High Tides
by supervicki
Summary: Gou Matsuoka didn't think her day at the beach with her best friend would turn out like this. Why did he save her? MakoGou merman au.
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone! I've been having this idea for awhile and I wanted to finally go through with it. It's different than a usual merman au, this is based on Tumblr user, and my art senpai, Fia (hubedihubbe)'s idea of Makoto being the size of an actual orca in this au. So that credit goes straight to her!

I do not own the characters of Free! Iwatobi Swim Club.

* * *

"Gou-chan!"

A girl with long red hair swept up in a ponytail turned around from the back of the van where her best friend called her. It was a blistering summer day and the girls were outside packing up for their one-day road trip to the beach with four other girls from school. Gou drew a frown when she saw her come closer. "Chigusa-chan, didn't I tell you my name is Kou! Kou!"

Her best friend, Chigusa, caught up to her, wiping sweat off her brow. "Gou-chan, I've known you since we were in diapers. You are going to be Gou to me no matter what." Chigusa playfully punched her shoulder while putting her backpack in the trunk.

"All right, girls. Ready to go?" Ayumi's mom questioned when the girls were all packed and ready to go. The girls from school cheered and climbed in the van. Gou sat in the very back with Chigusa and Minami; the middle seat consisted of Satomi and Yuka, and in the front were Ayumi and her mother. Gou sat near the window and gazed outside. Next to her, Chigusa and Minami were discussing about a TV drama Gou could care less about. Gou closed her eyes and rested her head against the window throughout the whole ride to the beach. She just wanted to hurry up and jump in the ocean. She felt, even though it sounds weird, free when she's in the seawater. Like she can do anything and everything. She turned back and at all the girls chatting together. _Why did mom put me in an all-girls school? I don't really fit in with them._ She got along most with Chigusa, but that was mainly because she practically grew up with her. All these other girls barely spoke to Gou. It was Chigusa who was invited to this beach day; Chigusa decided not to go without Gou. Reluctantly, Ayumi said it was okay for Gou to come. Chigusa practically dragged Gou to come with her, begging and bribing her because she gets to be in the ocean.

"Gou-chan, how old is your brother?" one of the girls, Satomi, interrupted Gou's thoughts.

She blinked at her. "Oh, Rin is a year older than me, so he's seventeen years old."

Next to Satomi, Yuka piped up. "And you said he's in Australia? Oh, how dashing." She gushed. They turned back around and started talking about celebrities from Australia that were absolutely "a-dorbs". _Really, that's all they wanted to talk about? My older brother? I swear these girls…_ Gou rolled her eyes and looked back out the window. She didn't want to admit that she's boy-crazy as well, loving men with perfect abs and biceps. She would rather die than talk about boys with these self-absorbed girls. Gou's train of thought was put on hold once again when she noticed that the sea was in her line of view. Her eyes sparkled at not only the sea, but the shirtless men she could see from miles away. _Okay, Gou. Keep it together. You wanted to swim, that's it. You can't go googley-eye in front of these girls. That's right; I'll just admire them in the ocean. The girls will be too busy tanning and flirting to see me anyways. Ugh, how lame._

The girls quickly climbed out the van when they arrived to the beach. After grabbing their towels and sunscreen, the girls looked for a noticeable spot on the beach. Chigusa stayed behind to check on Gou.

"Hey, are you alright?" she questioned Gou when she got out of the van.

Gou slowly took off her shorts and tank top, revealing her light blue one-piece swimsuit. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be? I'm gonna go jump in." She took two steps before looking back at Chigusa. She smiled and put her hand on Chigusa's shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry, I'm seriously fine. Go hang out with your friends, I'll be okay. Besides, you know you hate swimming in seawater."

Chigusa mouth twitched up in a grin. "Well, you are right about that. Okay, don't go too far out. You know I worry easily."

"Gee, I could barely tell." Gou patted her shoulder. "Go have fun! Maybe you could catch a few of the guys' eyes with that bikini you have on. You are just absolutely 'a-dorbs'!"

Chigusa playfully punched Gou's shoulder again. "Yeah, right! Make sure you put on enough sunscreen!" she jogged away towards the girls.

Gou rolled her eyes. It's like she's her second mom. She headed towards the shore, jumping with glee inside. _Man! I should've brought my boogie-board. Nah, I'll just swim._ Gou paddled her way through the waves and turned so she was floating on her back. The waves calmed down for some time while she was floating. She never felt so relaxed in all her life. Gou closed her eyes and bathed in the sun.

Minutes pass by before she noticed a raindrop splash on her cheek. Gou opened her eyes, shocked to see rainclouds covering the sky. _It was just sunny a second ago! How long was I out here?_ She looked around frantically for the other girls. She couldn't believe that she was already far out in the ocean; how could she be so careless? The girls were miles away onshore. Rain started picking up and she began swimming back to the shore. After paddling through the water, she felt like she was swimming farther away from the shore. She wiped her eyes the best that she could to see her way. Waves started crashing around her, pulling her deeper in the water. Gou was desperately swimming through the waves until one giant wave sent her underwater. She was too tired to fight anymore. Too tired to live. _I just want to be free._ That was her last thought before blacking out with the amount of water in her lungs.

* * *

"Nagisa! This isn't right! You know we shouldn't get close to the humans." Makoto whined. The young merman was gliding through the water, trying to catch up to his crazy friend.

"Mako-chan, don't you want to see what they look like? Come on, don't be a chicken." The blond turned back to look at Makoto. "Besides, it's not like I'm going to touch them. I just want to see them!"

Makoto sighed, still chasing after Nagisa. "Not only would they be weirded out by our 'tails' but they will be terrified that we are gigantic to them."

This is true to a degree. Makoto is part of the orca mermen race, so he's the biggest of all his friends. He's about 22 feet in size and still growing. Compared to an average human, Makoto can completely tower over them. Nagisa and Makoto's other friends, Haru and Rei, are from the normal race of mermen, but they are still bigger than an average human. Adult mermen grow up to be about 11 to 14 feet in size. Haru and Rei are both 10 feet as of right now and Nagisa is the smallest, coming to about 8 feet.

"Mako-chan! Pleaseeeeeee! It will only be a couple of minutes, I swear!" Nagisa begged. "It's not like I'm going to show myself."

_Even if you did, you would probably fit right in. Oh my, he would finally be bigger than someone else. _Makoto started chuckling to himself. "Fine, Nagisa. You have five minutes."

Nagisa's eyes sparkled. "Thanks, Mako-chan!" When they were near enough, they poked their heads out of the water. They could vaguely see the shoreline, with piles of tourists tanning in the sun. "Wow, look at all the humans! Their fins look very funny."

Makoto rolled his eyes. "Nagisa, those are called legs. They have those to walk around and such."

"Ohhhh, I see. How come they aren't in the water?"

"Hmm, I don't know. They just look like they're playing around. What's the point?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Nagisa could see a figure from the distance. "Except for that human; looks like she's enjoying the water."

Makoto turned his head to where Nagisa was looking at. He couldn't help but gasp at what he saw. It was a human girl, floating on her back with her eyes closed. She looked so calm and relaxed being in the water. But that didn't make him gasp; it was how beautiful she was to him. Her dark, red hair was glowing in the ocean water, sprawled out around her head. She almost looked heavenly to him, especially in her petite frame.

He was startled from his thoughts when he felt a raindrop on his cheek. Makoto looked up, surprised at how fast a storm brewed.

"Mako-chan, let's get out of here!" Nagisa said. He dived back in the water before the waves started crashing around.

Before Makoto could dive in the water, he looked back at where that girl was floating. He started panicking when he saw her struggling to stay afloat. He then saw a giant wave bring her underwater. Makoto wiped away the panic and became determined. He was determined to save this girl no matter what.

Makoto dived in the water and glided to where the girl was sinking. Once he reached her, he grabbed her arm and pulled her to his chest. The girl was so tiny compared to him. He could practically carry her like a young merchild.

He carried her while he swam near the shore, far away from where the humans were. Makoto placed her on the sand, bringing his head near her chest. He was listening for her heartbeat; but was very faint. He then brought his face up to hers. Makoto was very large compared to her face, but he did the only thing he could do. He lowered his giant lips on hers and began breathing air into her lungs. After a few minutes of pumping air into the girl, she began coughing up seawater. Makoto drew back and stared at her face. It would be considered an understatement when he breathed a sigh of relief. He smiled gently at her before turning around to dive back in the water. He didn't want the girl to see how much of a monster he looked like to her.

"Wait! Don't leave me, please."

He froze in place when he heard the girl's voice. Makoto turned to see the girl's face; it was filled with hope.

"Please don't leave me."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello, everyone! I wanted to personally thank all of you for reading this fic. It really means the world to me. I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any on the characters from Free! Iwatobi Swim Club.**

* * *

"Please don't leave me."

Makoto was stunned. Why would this human look at her like that? As if he wasn't a monster… this felt so different to him.

"Uh, are you sure?" he said, trying his best not to startle her; even if his appearance should be enough.

The human smiled at him, her damp red hair stuck to her face. Makoto still thought she looked heavenly to him despite her near-death experience.

She slowly took two steps towards him. Makoto's fluke, his tail fin, tensed straight up. He didn't know what to do, he never had a human come this close to him. She took more tentative steps towards him, feeling the heat coming off the warm-blooded mammal. He wondered if it felt unbearable since he was flushed red as well. Makoto looked down at the human that came up to his forearm.

"Um, why did you save me?"

"I, uh, f-felt like you-you needed saving." Makoto stammered out. He sighed and then cleared his throat. "I wasn't going to leave you out there like that."

The human place a hand on his arm. "Thank you so much. I'm very grateful." She plopped down in front him with her legs crisscrossed. "So! What's your name?"

He was bewildered. _Did she hit her head or something? I should've saved her faster. Wait, she's in the ocean. Did she lose a lot of oxygen from her brain?!_ Makoto cleared his throat again. "Uh, my name is Makoto."

"Ah, Makoto, huh? I'm sorry to say this but that name is sort of girly. Well, I can't say anything, my name is Gou and it's considered as a boy's name. Do you know how much I hate that name? I'm trying to get people to call me Kou but no one ever remembers. Even my best friend Chigusa refuses to call me that."

"I think Gou is a very pretty name. It fits you really well."

She blushed. "You saying I'm pretty?"

He turned another shade of red. "Uh, I mean you are-but that's not what I was trying to say. But you are… pretty."

Gou giggled lightly. "Thank you, Makoto. That really means a lot. You are actually pretty handsome yourself."

"H-handsome? Like how?"

"How? Well, look at you! You have the best six-pack I've ever seen!"

"Okay now, you probably lost a lot of oxygen from your brain. You're acting sort of delirious. Here, let me take you back to the other humans." He outstretched his palm before Gou.

"Other humans? Oh! Chigusa is probably worried about me! Can you really take me back for me?"

Makoto smiled gently at Gou. "Of course, it's the least I can do. Here, step on." Gou carefully climbed on his palm and he slowly brought her up to the top of his head. "Can you hang on for me? I actually go really fast in the water."

He felt Gou grasp on his brown hair. "Ay, Ay, Captain!"

He rolled his eyes. "You definitely lost a lot of oxygen in that human brain of yours." Makoto began gliding, his head sticking out of the water to keep Gou from harm. "So, I'm going to drop you off not too far from the shore and then you'll be home free."

"Wait, I'm not going to see you again?" Gou climbed up further on his head so she can lean forward to look into one of his green eyes.

"I don't think you want to hang out with a monster like me."

Gou furrowed her eyebrows and pulled some of Makoto's hair, making him yelp. "A monster doesn't save a person from drowning." She pursed her red eyes into his left eye.

Nervously, Makoto brought up his finger and patted Gou on top of her head. "Okay, I understand. But I don't think we can see each other again."

"Why not, Makoto? And don't tell me I lost a lot of oxygen from my brain, I am not incoherent or delusional at all. Ever since you saved my life, I am definitely most indebted to you. But above all, I really want to learn more about you, if you don't mind."

Makoto stopped in the water. He carefully brought Gou in his palms in front of his face. "Gou," he breathed. "Are you sure about this?"

Gou reached out her hand to touch his cheek. "Of course I am. Besides, I'm not taking no for an answer."

Makoto chuckled, feeling her fingers run up and down his cheek. "You are one stubborn human, Ms. Gou."

She stood up and placed her hands on her hips. "I am absolutely proud of that, sir!"

Makoto blurted out laughing, making Gou lose her footing and fall backwards in the water. When she resurfaced, Makoto was covering his flamed face with his hands. "I am so sorry!"

Gou couldn't help but cackle at the sight before her. "M-Makoto! You look-HA- so adorable!" she said between breaths.

Makoto peeked through his fingers to look at her. _This girl is too much. But she's so cute like that._ "Here." He picked her up and placed her back on his head. "Now, hold on tight." Once he picked up pace in the water, Gou was holding on to his hair for dear life.

As soon as Makoto was close enough to the shore, but hidden enough behind some rocks so he won't be seen, he slowed down and gently brought Gou in his hands once again. "Here's our stop. If you want, you can see me…tomorrow… if you want." He began blushing before her.

Gou's face lit up. "You mean it? I really want to know more about you! I mean, we're friends now, right?"

Makoto looked into her ruby eyes. "R-right."

Gou scrunched up her face. "You hesitated."

"I didn't hesitate, I stuttered."

"No, I know hesitation when I see it, what's wrong?"

"Why would I? You saw that I have a problem when I'm nervous, I tend to stutter."

"Yeah, but this one was different."

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is. You hesitated."

"Fine! I hesitated!" Gou leaned back from his powerful outburst. "Sorry. I just- I'm worried that I won't be able to see you again."

She tilted her head in wonder. "Why, Makoto? What's wrong?"

"My… species are not allowed to be in contact with humans whatsoever. It's forbidden."

"What happens when you're caught?"

"I honestly don't know. I just know that the few that were caught in the past have never been heard of again."

"Wow. Makoto, I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too. But you know what…" he brought her closer to his face. "This is going to be a secret."

"What?" she whispered.

"I want to know more about you. So, I'm going to secretly see you." He whispered back.

Incredulously, Gou stood up and hugged his face. "Oh, Makoto! Thank you! I'm actually really happy." She pulled back so she was face to face with him, or body to face if you will. "And thank you so much for today. I am forever grateful to you." She leaned forward and kissed him on the tip of his nose. She giggled when he started turning bright red again and then she dived in the water. She turned back to look at him. "That's payback, you know! Because technically you were my first kiss! See you tomorrow, Makoto!" Gou waved and began paddling back toward the shore. He waved back, watching her while blushing more because he could still feel the warm spot she made on his nose. He slowly dived back in the water and headed home.

* * *

While Gou was paddling back towards the shore, she seriously thought was becoming delusional. _I'm not dreaming, right? This actually happened. Wow, this is the weirdest day ever. _She smiled to herself though because she will get to see him tomorrow. Hopefully if she wasn't actually dreaming and not dead.

"Oh my god, Gou!" she heard a shout from the shoreline. Gou looked up to see the group of girls she rode with from school. In front of them was her best friend Chigusa. From the distance, it looked like she was crying for a while since her eyes were real puffy. Once Gou was close enough to walk in the shallow water, she was engulfed in a hug by Chigusa. "I was so worried! I thought you drowned! We've been searching for you all over and the stupid life guards refused to get police involved and I just-I'm just so glad you're alive!"

Gou wrapped her arms around the shaking girl. "It's all right, Chigusa. I'm here, don't worry. Everything is fine." She pulled back so she could wipe away some of her tears. "I did almost drown but I got help from Ma… from a fish."

Chigusa stared at her in confusion. "A fish?"

Another girl, Satomi, also questioned, repeating for emphasis. "Seriously. A fish?"

"Yeah, a fish helped me. It, uh, showed me the way back to shore."

Chigusa stared at her for a few more seconds before busting out laughing. "Oh my god, that's rich. Come on, Gou. We need to get you to a doctor. You probably swallowed a lot of seawater." Chigusa wrapped an arm around Gou's shoulder and started walking her back to the van.

Gou smiled at her then turned to look back at the ocean behind her. _She's never going to believe me, will she? What a long day this has been. _

After insisting she was fine the whole car ride, Gou was dropped off at her house. Even after the incident, the girls still didn't talk to her. Chigusa was the only one that was practically in her lap because she couldn't stop pestering Gou by asking her, "Are you okay?" for every five minutes. Gou rolled her eyes and answered for the umpteenth time, "Yes, Chigusa. I'm okay."

Before she got off, Gou turned back to Chigusa. "Please promise me something."

"Anything." Chigusa said.

"Please don't tell my mom. She already worries enough as it is since Rin is in another country."

"But you almost died!"

"But, Chigusa, I didn't. I am here in front of you. Just please don't tell her. Pinky promise?" Gou held out her pinky towards her.

Chigusa sighed and then attached her pinky to Gou's. "Yes. Okay, I promise. Just don't do something like that again. I seriously almost had a heart attack."

Gou rolled her eyes again and brought Chigusa in for a hug. "I'll talk to you later tomorrow. Bye!"

Once Gou walked inside her house, she sighed in relief against the door. _I don't think I will be able to tell her about Makoto any time soon. _

"Gou, honey, is that you?" Gou heard her mom call her from the kitchen.

"Oh, yes! I'm home!" she called out. Gou walked in the kitchen, noticing her mother chopping up tomatoes.

Her mother looked up at her and smiled. "Welcome home, dear. Oh wow, looks like you got a new tan. How was today?"

Gou jumped up on the counter and sat on the opposite side where her mom was at. "Oh, same old, same old. The girls from school ignored me like always and wasted time tanning while I got the water all to myself. Oh, Chigusa probably got herself a boyfriend because I could totally see her flirting when I was in the water."

"Oh? What about yourself? Did you meet a boy there too?"

Gou thought about it for a second. "Actually… I have."

Gou's mom paused from cutting the tomatoes and looked up at Gou in surprise. "Really? What was he like? Oh my, I'm so happy for you!"

"Um, mom, he's just a friend. I just met him today." She hopped off the counter. "Let me know when dinner is ready, I'll be in the shower!" she ran upstairs, escaping her mother's will for finding her daughter a boyfriend.

Gou's mother sighed. "Ah, fine, honey. It'll be ready in 45 minutes!" she shouted after her.

After she finished her shower, Gou flopped down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. _I can't wait to see Makoto tomorrow. I guess, this wasn't a dream at all. Since that water in the shower was boiling hot and burned me, geez. I wonder what Makoto is doing right now…_

* * *

"For the last time, Nagisa, nothing happened." Makoto said, exasperated from Nagisa's constant questioning. Makoto caught up with Nagisa and is now currently hanging out with Haru and Rei, with Haru lazily swimming around the three of them, just enjoying the water with his eyes closed.

Rei adjusted his red-framed goggles. "Nagisa said that when he dived back in the water that you were right behind him. If my calculations are correct, you would have been exactly 2.2 seconds behind him, in other words there would have been no way for you to get left behind, especially since your fluke is a lot larger than ours, Makoto-san."

Nagisa swam up in Makoto's face. "See? Rei-chan's calculations would never be off. He's smarticle!"

"Nagisa-kun, that is not a word."

"Whatever, Rei-chan. Look, Mako-chan, something happened and you're going to tell me right now."

"Fine, Nagisa!" Makoto raised his arms above him in defeat, and in frustration. This emotion from Makoto made Haru perk up and stop swimming to look at him. "I… I saved a human today and shewantstoseemetomorrowohgod." Makoto said really fast in nervousness.

"Mako-chan! I bet it was that girl in the water, right? Wow, you go Mako-chan!" Nagisa said, patting Makoto on the back. Rei came up and slapped Nagisa on the shoulder.

"Nagisa-kun, this is no time for celebration! Talking to a human is forbidden! How could you do that Makoto-san, even you should know that!"

"I know, Rei, I just… couldn't help it. Please guys, don't tell anyone, okay? They'll tell the council and I'm scared to know what the punishment is."

"Of course we won't." Everyone turned to Haru. "If she was drowning, that means she loves the water right? That's okay with me." Haru then closed his eyes and swam around lazily again.

"Oh god, Haru." Makoto said, face palming himself.

Nagisa's face twisted up in a grin. "Okay, Mako-chan. We'll keep it a secret. But the condition is to let us meet her as well."

Makoto's flushed. "What?!"

"Oh come on, Mako-chan. You can't keep her to yourself. Why can't we meet her?"

Makoto looked at all of his friends' faces. He sighed in defeat. "Fine, but only the next time I see her after tomorrow. I have to let her know in advance."

"Dang, Mako-chan. You are making it seem like this is your girlfriend. We just want to meet her, do we seriously need your permission?"

"Yes." They all turned to look at Haru again; he was suddenly very talkative today. "Listen to what Makoto says." He said, his eyes still closed.

"Fine, then. Well, what's her name, Mako-chan?"

Makoto smiled at the memory. "Her name is Gou."

"Gou? What kind of name is that for a girl?"

"What kind of name is Nagisa for a boy?" Haru retaliated flatly.

"Wow, Haru. That hurt." Nagisa mocked, holding his hand to his chest. "Okay, then, Mako-chan. Have fun with Gou-chan tomorrow!" He swam away, leaving the group.

"Makoto-san, be careful tomorrow, okay?" Rei said before leaving. He adjusted his frames one more time before turning around and swimming off.

"Makoto." Makoto looked at Haru to see what he was going to say. "Listen to Rei. Be careful tomorrow, alright?"

"Right, Haru. I will."

Haru gently patted his shoulder and started swimming toward his home. He called back over his shoulder, "I can't wait to meet your girlfriend."

Makoto started to flush again. "Oi! Haru!"


	3. Chapter 3

Hello everyone! I wanted to personally thank all of y'all again for reading the story. It still baffles me how much a lot of people are liking this story, I mean I just thought of this on a whim and I was inspired by an au theory of Makoto's orca size by one of my art senpais Fia (hubedihubbe). I hope you enjoy this chapter and support this story all the way through! Thank you!

As always, I do not own the characters from Free! Iwatobi Swim Club.

* * *

Gou awoke feeling refreshed in the morning. Maybe it was the comforting shower last night or the home cooked dinner Gou's mom made. It was her favorite dish after all. But it was the fact that she met a wonderful man yesterday who happened to be part killer whale and she was going to meet up with him again today. _Yeah, I'm totally not crazy at all. Don't mind me, going to hang out with the fish that saved my life, whoo hoo._

She quickly got out of bed and washed her face in the bathroom. After she was done, Gou walked back to her bedroom and stood in front of her closet. She honestly didn't know what to wear, she never really cared to dress up flashy before for anyone but now that she's going to see Makoto again, she wanted to look…nice. _If I was in my swimsuit yesterday, I don't think it will be a big deal. After all, he wanted to see me again. Plus, he's practically naked… Ohhhh, his muscles looked nice…. Ah! Get it together, Gou!_

In the end, Gou just threw on a t-shirt and basketball shorts, with her swimsuit underneath. She grabbed her jacket and walked downstairs to head to the kitchen, finding her mother fixing breakfast.

"Oh good morning, Gou. Where are you going today?" Gou's mother said, eyeing her outfit.

"Uh, I'm going to hang out with Chigusa today. Probably meet up with the other girls later. Maybe even that boy Chigusa talked to yesterday." Gou lied. Truth is she wasn't entirely sure if Chigusa really did meet a guy at all. She just needed a quick cover-up and that seemed the most believable one.

"Oh? Will that boy you met yesterday be there too?"

Gou quickly grabbed a banana, protein bar, and two water bottles. "Uhh, I don't know, maybe? Sorry, mom, I gotta go. Chigusa is waiting for me. I'll see you later tonight, okay?"

Her mom sighed, turning off the stove. "Right, honey. Be careful, okay?"

Gou gathered her essentials in a small backpack and placed it on her back. "I will. I'm taking off!"

Gou hopped on her bike and headed to the train station. Once she got there, Gou parked her bike at the bicycle rack, locked it, and headed to next stop on the train to the beach. _Good thing I still have my birthday money, otherwise I would had to use my bike to get me to the beach!_

Gou took a seat in non-crowded corner and took out her breakfast. After she was done, she took a swig of water and looked outside. _Oh look! The beach is coming in view!_

Fifteen minutes later, Gou found herself walking along the beach, trying to figure out how she was going to see Makoto. She looked around on the sand; there were too many tourists that could spot him. She huffed and turned around on her heel. She figured she should try and find a secret spot, like a cove of some sort. Twenty more minutes of restless walking, Gou finally found a deserted cove, miles away from the tourists. She slipped off her jacket and backpack and collapsed on the sand, inches away from the shallow current. "Man, why did I forget how I was going to meet up with him?! And why is it so freaking hot?!"

She heard someone chuckle. "I was going to ask you the same thing."

Her eyes were wide-eyed as she sat up. Lying across from her in the water was Makoto, his tail fin wagging back and forth while he smiled gently at her. Gou was practically burning up when she realized how embarrassing that was. "Oh, hi Makoto." She stood up and shook sand off of her back and butt. She walked up to him, trying hard to control herself because off the massive chiseled chest in front of her, and slapped him on the arm. It probably felt like a bug bit him with her size. "That's for scaring me." The she leaned forward and lightly kissed where she hit him. "And this is for keeping your promise."

Makoto's composure was completely shattered when Gou did that. He was blushing so bad that he dove back in the water.

"W-what?! Where are you going?" Gou yelled after him. "Geez, I didn't think he would get that worked up."

Makoto resurfaced quickly, startling Gou. "Y-you are in-insane! That was—that was- ahh!" Makoto stuttered out, not knowing what to say.

Gou walked closer to him and gestured to hold out his hands. He complied, raising them out in front of her. Gou stepped on and gestured for him to pull her closer to his face. Slowly, he brought her up. "You sir, need to calm down. It wasn't a big deal, okay?" She gently petted his nose.

Makoto didn't think he could feel so comforted by this human. Gou is really taking quite an affect on him. "Right, I got it. You are one weird human, you know that right?" he grinned.

Gou giggled and jumped off his hand to land on the ground. Makoto almost panicked when she did that until he saw her walking back to her backpack. "Ha, I know, I know. I get told that quite a lot." She grabbed her water bottle and chugged it down. "It's not worse than the other names."

Makoto tilted his head. "Other names? What do you mean other names?"

"Oh you know, freak, crazy, and…" she turned away from him to shield her face. "…a nobody."

It was silent. Then Gou felt fingers wrap around her body and she was suddenly lifted from the ground. Before Gou could process what was happening, Makoto carefully held her against his chest. "Gou. You are none of those names. Especially a 'nobody'. It doesn't even matter that I've just met you; I know for a fact you are absolutely amazing. Don't forget that." He pressed her closer to his chest for emphasis.

Gou was blushing harder than ever. "I… thanks, Makoto. I'm sorry for ruining the mood. Totally didn't mean for that to happen. Maybe it was gas."

"What?"

"What? I didn't say anything. I don't know what you're talking about—Oh. My. God."

Makoto looked down at Gou. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Your…"

"My?"

"Your beautiful abs are near my face!"

"O-okay, you definitely hit your head yesterday. St-stop that." Makoto stuttered out again. "Alright, let's go for a ride!"

"Ah, wait! Place me down, I need to change into my swimsuit!" He obliged. Gou began taking off her shirt.

"Wahh! Don't do that here!" Makoto covered his face, flustered.

"Makoto, relax. My swimsuit is underneath my clothes. No worries." She said, placing her folded clothes next to her backpack.

Makoto nervously chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Right. I knew that." He picked her up and placed her on his head. "Make sure to hold on."

"Don't worry, Makoto! I think I got the hang of this." Gou said, grabbing fistfuls of his hair. Makoto grinned, beginning to glide gracefully in the water, careful not to drown Gou.

"So tell me, why did you have people call you those names?" Makoto questioned. Gou climbed up further on his head and laid her arms out. Makoto chuckled, "Hey, be careful with those, I do have to see to steer."

"Oh sorry. Well, when I was little I just never really fit in with the other girls my age. They were so concentrated on wearing frilly pink clothes and makeup while I was interested in just swimming. I don't really know how to describe it, Makoto. I was basically ignored by a lot of girls. That's it."

"That's it?"

"Well, the only time any of the girls would talk to me is only to ask about my older brother."

"You have an older brother?"

"Yeah, he moved to Australia to work on his dream of being in the Olympics."

"I…have no idea what that is but it sounds really good."

Gou reached out and rubbed Makoto's eyebrow. "Whoops! I completely forgot you don't really know 'human' stuff. Uh, it's a really big deal in all other countries, especially of him doing the competitive swimming."

"Oh, okay. Seems really interesting. I'm sorry those other girls were like that to you. I can hardly imagine how they can not be friends with you."

"Well, only one of the girls managed to snag me as a best friend. Haha, her name is Chigusa and we've known each other since we were three years old. She really understands me."

Makoto grinned. "She sounds really sweet."

Gou sighed and stretched her arms further hanging off of Makoto's head. "I wish I could tell her about you but I don't want to do that to you."

"If she is able to handle and keep this as a secret…then I don't see what could be wrong. I mean, I'm already breaking one of the main rules of my people. What else could happen?"

"You really mean that, Makoto?"

"Yeah, Gou. If she is the person you trust the most, I don't see a problem."

Gou rubbed some of Makoto's olive hair. "Thank you, Makoto. That means a lot. But that means I would have to tell her everything and there may be a possibility she won't believe me. Oh gosh, I hope she does."

Makoto slowed down and swiftly balanced on his stomach in the water. "No worries, Gou. I honestly feel like I can trust you. Kind of weird, isn't it?"

Gou stood up and playfully walked down Makoto's broad back. _God, he even has a well-toned back! Ohhhh those muscles…_ "It's okay. I feel that way too. I mean, I keep on thinking I'm dreaming but I'm not so, I feel like its fate, you know? Us meeting? Wow that sounds incredibly cliché." Gou rolled her eyes and walked further to his dorsal fin, with Makoto tensing up of how ticklish she was making him. All of a sudden, Gou slipped on a wet patch on Makoto's body and her foot landed in Makoto's blowhole. Makoto was alarmed and flustered then he accidentally blew Gou out of the blowhole, causing her to fly feet into the air and away from him.

"Oh my, Gou!" Makoto began panicking, hoping he could catch her just in time. Before he sprang forward, he felt something tug on his fluke from below.

"Don't worry, Mako-chan. Haru-chan is already on it!" Makoto turned away from Nagisa and faced where Gou could've fallen. He was relieved when he saw Haru carrying Gou in his arms. He raced toward the two of them.

"Oh, god, thank you, Haru! Thank you so much for saving Gou!" Makoto cried out and hugged his friend.

"Makoto, you're making it harder for her to breathe." Haru pointed out. Makoto suddenly realized that she was caught in the bone-crushing hug and quickly pulled away.

She gasped for breath. "Geez, Makoto. If I wasn't gonna die by drowning, I sure was going to die being crushed to death by you." Gou looked up at her savior. "Thanks a lot, um Haru?"

Haru nodded, affirming the gratefulness and his own name. Haru stretched out his arms, with Gou in tow, towards Makoto. "Here's your girlfriend."

Makoto instantly turned red. "Haru! She-she's not my gir-girlfriend!" Makoto stammered out. But despite that, Makoto obliged, carefully placing Gou back on her spot on top of his head. "Haru, this is Gou, the human I met the other day. Gou, this is my best friend Haru."

"Oh, I see. Nice to meet you Haru!" she extended her arm out to Haru. Haru's usually expressionless face turned into one of that was amused, slowly lifting his finger to her hand. She gratefully took hold of it and shook it. Haru nodded at her again.

"Oh! Oh! Me next!" Gou turned around at the voice that was behind her and Makoto. "Hello, Gou-chan! I'm Nagisa!" The blond merman started swimming happily around them in circles. "Oh, Gou-chan, can I hold you for a second? Please, please?"

Gou shifted in her spot and stretched out to look Makoto in the eye. "Is it okay?"

Makoto grinned. "Of course it is okay, why wouldn't it?" He turned to look Nagisa in the eye. "But you need to be careful with her, alright?"

"Yikes, Mako-chan, don't get your tail fin in a twist. I just wanted to see how it was to hold a human. Don't worry!" Nagisa reached out a picked Gou up and placed her in his arms. Nagisa started giggling. "You're like a merbaby! Aww, you're so cute." He then lightly pinched her cheeks.

Gou furrowed her eyebrows in annoyance. "Makoto! Get me away from him!" Once she said that, she was swiftly up and back on top of Makoto's head.

"Nagisa, you didn't listen to what I said at all."

Haru lazily swam up to Nagisa and slapped the back of his head. He then went back to swimming. "What? Haru-chan, what was that for?!"

Haru had his eyes closed when he answered. "For being an idiot."

Nagisa puffed out his cheeks. "I don't see what the big deal is, you guys."

"Nagisa, how would you like it if someone picked you up and cradle you like a baby, even if you're not one?"

Nagisa thought for a second. "I don't know, I think I'd like it."

Both Makoto and Gou shook their heads in disappointment. "Well, whatever the case, it's time for me to take Gou back home. The sun is beginning to set."

Gou's head perked up. "How long have we been out here? Gosh, I need to hurry to catch the next train! Makoto, we got to hurry!" She turned towards Haru and Nagisa. "It's really nice meeting you two, I hope to see you again!"

"I'll see you two later. Haru, make sure Nagisa doesn't get into more trouble." Haru nodded and then dove in the water.

"Mako-chan, how rude!" Nagisa whined. "Bye, Gou-chan!" And with that, Nagisa dove after Haru. Makoto then started gliding in the water back to the cove.

Minutes passed and they were back on the shore. Makoto reached up and gently picked up Gou and placed her on the ground. Gou turned to look at Makoto. "Same time tomorrow?"

"Really? You mean it?"

"Makoto, are you really asking me that?"

Makoto rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know, I just thought meeting my friends would probably scare you off. That and I put you in danger today."

Gou walked up and kicked Makoto's arm. "Seriously? None of the events today scared me off. It was actually fun and your friends seem really nice. Especially Nagisa, I guess."

"You are one stubborn human, Gou."

"So I've been told. Well, I gotta go catch the train. See you tomorrow, Makoto! I seriously did had fun." Gou smiled and waved.

Makoto lightly blushed. "Thanks, Gou. See you tomorrow!" With that, he dived back in the water, splashing Gou in the process. Gou just stood there.

"If I tell him he splashed me, he would die in embarrassment. Oh lord." She shook off the most of the water on her and turned around to gather her things. She quickly put on her clothes and backpack and ran like there was no tomorrow toward the train station. She was able to make it there with ten minutes to spare. Gou sighed in relief. The train ride back home was quiet and bleak; she was the only one in the available train cart. Once she made it to her stop, Gou unlocked her bike, hopped on, and peddled on home. Her belly ached for food once she made it to her house. _I'm going to have to remember to bring my own lunch tomorrow. Otherwise, I would starve to death! Ugh, I regret not having mom's breakfast. She cooked bacon for crying out loud!_ Gou parked her bike and headed to the front steps of her home. She unlocked her front door and stepped inside. "Mom, I'm home! I forgot to eat so I home you have something!" Gou called out. She bended down to untie her sneakers in the entrance of the front door.

"Welcome home, sis."

Gou froze. _That's not mom's voice at all._ She slowly looked up and gasped.

"Onii-chan?!"


	4. Chapter 4

Oh god, this was the longest chapter I've ever written. I wanted to thank all of you again for the feedback and support; it truly makes me happy to see. I hope to update another chapter soon, but next Wednesday is my birthday so I might be busy next week. I'll still try and update soon for y'all! I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's a bit fluffy, oh my. :)

Thank you again.

Disclaimer: I do not owe the characters from Free! Iwatobi Swim Club.

* * *

"Onii-chan, what are you doing here?"

Rin came up to Gou and ruffled her hair. "I decided I was done with Australia and it was time for me to come back home. What, you didn't miss me?"

Gou shook her head. "Yeah, right. Come here, big bro." She then gave him a huge hug, in which he returned back. "It's actually great to see you, onii-chan."

"It's great to see you too, Gou.

Of course the moment had to be interrupted by Gou's stomach growling. "Oh god, do you know if mom made dinner?"

Rin sneered. "Yeah she did and I ate it all."

"What?! I'm starving!"

Rin ruffled her hair again and patted her shoulder. "I'm just kidding, Gou. It's in the kitchen." He turned back around and headed toward the kitchen area. "Mom, Gou's home and she's famished."

Their mom turned around to look at the two of them while she took off her apron. "Gou-chan, you haven't eaten? You made it in time for dinner though."

"Uh, yeah, mom. I got busy with Chigusa and I completely forgot to eat lunch."

Rin raised an eyebrow. "You kidding me? You eat like every hour."

Gou scowled at Rin. "Onii-chan! How rude! I don't do that anymore."

"Yes she does." Their mom countered.

"Mom!"

"Well you do. Hurry and clean up so you can eat dinner."

"Can I eat right now? I can't even walk upstairs."

Her mother sighed. "Fine, Gou. Just remember to wash up when you're done. You smell like the ocean. I thought you said you went to hang out with Chigusa?"

"Uh, yeah and then we decided to go to the beach again. She's practically in love with that guy she met and he loves to go to the beach. Can't talk right now, gotta go eat!"

An hour later after eating and washing up, Gou was lying on her bed staring at the ceiling again. She was contemplating whether she should tell Chigusa about Makoto or not. Gou fished out her phone from her pocket. _It's either now or never, Gou._ She then dialed Chigusa's number.

Chigusa picked up after two rings. "Hey, Gou, what's up?"

"Chigusa, I love you."

"Well…I love you too, weirdo. What's wrong?"

"Don't get mad at me but I have something huge to tell you but you have to keep it a secret."

"Okay? What is it?"

"I lied to you yesterday."

"About what?"

"A fish didn't save me from drowning."

"I figured. Who saved you?"

"Uh, I don't know how to explain it but he's a mermaid. Wait a merman."

"…you hit your head, didn't you?"

"No, please believe me, I'm not lying! I even met up with him again today."

"Oh? Your imaginary hero?"

"Chigusa, please I'm being serious."

"The only way you want me to believe you is to let me meet him. Wouldn't you think? I mean, this just came out of nowhere and you didn't tell me the truth yesterday."

"Well, I thought I was actually dreaming or I really did hit my head or lost oxygen from my brain. But I got to meet up with Makoto today and it certainly was real."

"His name is Makoto?"

"Yes and he's quite amazing." Gou gushed, remembering the events from today. "I got to ride on his head again and I got to meet his friends—"

"His head?"

"Yeah…he's really big. He's the size of a killer whale."

Gou heard Chigusa sigh. _She's probably shaking her head at me._ "I'm just gonna have to see it to believe it. Because honestly, Gou, you sound nuts."

"I know, I know. I thought I was going nuts. I'll stop by at your house in the morning so be ready. We're also taking the train. Oh! Make sure to bring water, your bathing suit, and a lunch! I forgot to bring a lunch today."

"Fine, Gou. I'll be ready. See you tomorrow."

"Bye!"

Gou put her phone down and shut her eyes. _I hope Makoto doesn't mind._

Little did she know, her big brother was listening on the other side of her door.

* * *

"You ready?"

Gou was not ready when she rang Chigusa's doorbell. When Chigusa opened the door and asked her that question, Gou froze on her step. Chigusa had her hair up in a bun, wore a light pink t-shirt and jean shorts, and had a backpack full of essentials on her back. She looked at Gou in confusion. "Hello? Are you ready?"

Gou shook her head. "Sorry, I just got worried."

"Why, what's wrong?"

"I don't know I just had this weird feeling. Never mind."

Chigusa crossed her arms over her chest. "Gou. I know you. What's wrong?"

Gou sighed. "Okay, okay. I don't know I just had this feeling like something is going to go wrong today. Maybe I did hurt my brain so now I have psychic abilities!"

"If I can barely believe that you are friends with a mermaid, how in the world am I going to believe that?"

"Correction: merman, Chigusa."

"Whatever, Gou." She hooked arms with Gou and headed over to their bikes. "Now come on, we have a long day ahead of us, you silly."

An hour passes and the girls find themselves walking over to the cove.

"I am so relieved I remember to pack myself food. I totally forgot to do that yesterday."

Chigusa glanced at Gou. "Oh yeah, I heard your brother is back. How did that go?"

"Hmm, it went well. He's grown a lot since I last saw him. I need to talk to him though, I don't know why he came back home in such a short amount of time."

"Do you think something happened to him over in Australia?"

Gou shrugged her shoulders. "Beats me. I need to remember to talk to him tonight."

"So tell me…this Makoto, what is he like?"

Gou's face became pink-tinted. "Uh, he's really nice. Like very sweet and laid back. He's so understanding and is very sensitive. But he can be a bit overprotective, especially for my safety. But that's what makes him a sweetheart."

"Gou, you have it bad."

"N-no I don't!"

"Yes you do!" Chigusa giggled, putting an arm around Gou's shoulders. "It's practically written all over your face. Come on, Gou! Let's go see the mermaids!" She ran out ahead, leaving Gou behind.

"Quiet, Chigusa!" Gou scowled, catching up to her best friend.

Once they reached the secret cove, Chigusa looked back at Gou. "Okay, we're here. When's your boyfriend coming?"

Gou looked at Chigusa and then behind her. She smiled. "He's here now. Turn around."

Chigusa slowly turned, wide-eyed until her eyes landed on Makoto's. He was laying on stomach on the shore, staring at the girls amused. Chigusa yelped and ran behind Gou. "I didn't think he would be this big." She whispered to Gou.

"Come on, you big baby. He wants to say hello."

"I'm fine here, thank you." Chigusa said behind Gou.

Makoto chuckled. "Hello, Chigusa-chan. It's nice to finally meet you. Please don't be scared. It's honestly my size that's, well, intimidating. I mean no harm, Chigusa-chan." He carefully stretched out a finger towards the girls, gesturing it as a handshake.

Chigusa carefully stepped away from Gou and slowly took a couple of steps towards Makoto. She reached out her hand and placed it on his outstretched finger, slowly shaking it up and down. "N-nice to meet you too, Makoto-kun. I heard a lot about you."

Gou walked up to Chigusa. "Are you still scared?"

"Kind of, but…" she shook her head and gave a warm smile at Makoto. "If you saved my best friend's life, I don't think I need to be scared of you. Thank you so much."

Makoto was caught off guard. "Oh! Ah, you're certainly welcome! I-I just did what I felt needed to be done a-and if it risked my exposure of being caught, I…. I wouldn't care at all if I was caught. I wouldn't let someone, any sort of species, die like that."

Chigusa laughed. "You're really funny. You're perfect for Gou."

Both Gou and Makoto turned red and said, "What?!"

"Mako-chan!"

Makoto and the girls looked back at the ocean towards the person that called him. Or merman that called him. Nagisa, with Haru and another merman swam up to Makoto. Nagisa quickly went up to Gou, picked her up, and gave her hug. "Gou-chan! It's great to see you again! Oh? Who's this? Gou-chan's friend?" Nagisa placed Gou back on the ground and then extended his hand. "Nice to meet you! My name is Nagisa, this grumpy gills right here is Haru-chan, and this is Rei-chan! Oh! I don't think Rei-chan didn't get to meet Gou-chan yesterday."

Gou giggled. "No, I did not. Nice to meet you, Rei."

Rei, who was behind Haru, clinging to him, shakily waved at her. "I'm not really used to humans so don't mind me. Eh, nice to meet you as well, Gou-san. And…?" he gestured towards Chigusa.

"This is Gou's best friend, Chigusa." Makoto introduced her to the guys. "She was skeptical at first, but now she's all right at the moment."

Haru shrugged Rei off his shoulder. "Rei. They're harmless. Go." Haru pushed Rei in the water towards the girls. Rei yelped in surprised but quickly adjusted his red-framed goggles nervously.

"How rude, Haruka-san." Rei glanced at the girls and slowly outstretched his hand. Gou and Chigusa placed their hand in his and they all shook their hands together. Gou and Chigusa giggled when they pulled back, causing Rei to blush red. _How beautiful!_ Rei thought.

"Now that we made our introductions, why don't we enjoy a swim?" Nagisa asked, his eyes sparkling.

Gou looked back at Chigusa worriedly. She leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "Will you be okay?"

Chigusa smiled at Gou. "No need to worry, I'll be fine. Promise."

"Let me know when you want to get back to shore. Makoto will speed back for us."

"Gou, I'll be fine." She looked at the guys. They were staring at the girls in wonder. She put her hand on Gou's shoulder and squeezed it. "I'll let you know, though. Okay?"

Gou grinned. "Okay."

Once the girls changed into their swimsuits, Haru wasted no time and dived back in the water. He'll most likely swim off on his own, Makoto mentioned to Gou that he does like his alone time.

Makoto swiftly brought Gou up on her spot on his head and reached out to Chigusa. "Don't worry, you'll be safe." He gently smiled at her.

Hesitantly, Chigusa climbed on Makoto's hand and he slowly brought her up next to Gou. He waited until she was comfortable enough. Gou grinned at Chigusa and then gestured towards Makoto's hair. "You just hold on to his hair, like this. That way you won't fall off."

Chigusa smiled back at Gou. "I guess you got used to this in such a short amount of time, Gou."

Makoto then took off in the water, warily keeping check that the girls were all right, with Nagisa and Rei trailing behind him.

Chigusa was gripping Makoto's hair and on one slight turn, she accidentally tugged real hard on a strand. "Ouch."

"Oh, Makoto-san, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!" Makoto brought a finger up and gently patted Chigusa's head.

"Don't worry! It didn't hurt that much. Plus I completely understand if you're nervous, so if you do it again it's fine!" he reassured her.

Nagisa puffed his cheeks. "No fair. I want to carry a human." He suddenly had an idea. Rei looked over at Nagisa, who got closer to Makoto and the girls. _Oh no, this isn't going to be good._ Suddenly, Nagisa grabbed Chigusa and brought her in his arms. "Gotcha!" Chigusa began to panic since she wasn't safely next to her best friend and quite a distance above water. Now she was flailing in Nagisa's arms, terrified that she was centimeters away from water. Nagisa didn't know how to react when Chigusa started flailing, so he gave up and dropped her.

"Chigusa!" Gou screeched, seeing Chigusa sinking. She was about to jump in the water but stopped in her tracks when she saw Rei dived after her. Seconds passed until Rei resurfaced with Chigusa in his arms. "Oh no, Chigusa!" Gou dived in the water and swam next to Rei, trying to hop up to see if she was breathing. Thankfully, Chigusa was gasping for breath right when she swam up to her. "Oh gosh, thank you, Rei! Oh man, Chigusa." Gou carefully hugged Chigusa. "You scared me half to death." She said in her ear.

"Sorry, Gou, I didn't mean to. I think it's best for me to go back to shore."

"I understand, let's go right now."

Rei interrupted the two girls. "Umm, if you don't mind, I can just bring Chigusa-san back to shore while you can stay with Makoto-san, Gou-san."

The girls looked up at Rei and then glanced back at each other. "Will you be alright?" Gou asked.

"Yeah, I will be. I promise."

"That's what you said last time!"

"Well, that one wasn't my fault." They both glared at Nagisa.

"Ah! I'm sorry! I didn't know that was going to happen! If I did, I wouldn't have scared Chigusa-chan like that." Nagisa swam up to them. "I really am sorry, Chigusa-chan." He pouted.

Chigusa giggled. "It's okay. I survived! Besides it my fault for not telling you guys that I can't really swim."

Rei nodded his head in understanding. "I see. Don't worry, Chigusa-san, I'll bring you back to the shore safely.

"Thank you, Rei-kun." She smiled at him, causing Rei to blush lightly. Once Gou hopped off out of Rei's arms, he began to swim with her back to shore.

Gou looked back at Makoto. "Didn't think today would be like this, huh?"

Makoto smiled and then brought Gou back up on his head. "No, I didn't think it would."

Nagisa looked at the two of them. "Ah, sorry about today, Gou-chan. I'm actually gonna go on ahead. I'll see you two later." He waved and then dived in the water.

Gou sighed and stretched out her arms on Makoto's head. "Well, at least we have our alone time." She crawled up and hung her head upside down to look into Makoto's right eye. "Let's talk some more, okay?"

Makoto's face reddened but he quickly shook away the blush. "Okay, Gou. I'd be happy to."

* * *

Minutes passed until Rei finally reached the shore and gently placed Chigusa on the sand. "Here you are, Chigusa-san."

"Please, Rei-kun, you can just call me Chigusa."

"Uh, no no, that's okay. I feel more comfortable to call you Chigusa-san…Chigusa-san." Rei said, adjusting his goggles again.

Chigusa sat on the sand in front of where Rei was laying on stomach. "I have a question for you, Rei-kun. How are you able to see in those goggles?"

"Oh, these things?" Rei pointed at them. "These were actually specially made for me. A long time ago, Makoto-san was friends with this elder fisherman that helped him when he was young. He taught him how to speak in his language and he did a lot of things for Makoto and his friends. We were young and the fisherman noticed I had trouble seeing from certain distances. He was actually a retired eye doctor and one day, he surprised me with these specially made goggles with built-in lenses for me to see. He was an amazing man and I, along with Makoto-san and the others were incredibly grateful to him until…"

"Until what?"

"There was a storm that took the fisherman's life. Ever since then, Makoto-san blamed himself. He said he should have gone with him to make sure he safely reached shore, but the fisherman reassured him that he was going to be fine. Makoto swore that he was never going to befriend a human again. But that backfired until he met Gou-san."

Chigusa nodded. "Gou is quite a special girl. Promise me that you'll watch over them for me, okay?" Chigusa held out her pinky towards Rei.

Rei tilted his head at her. "I promise? Is this that human swear thing I heard about?"

"Yes! Now give me your pinky and shake on it!"

Rei slowly extended his pinky, completely overpowering her own pinky due to size. "Chigusa-san, I don't think this is going to work."

Chigusa pulled her hand back and sighed. "Well, at least you promised. That's good enough for me."

Rei fought back a cackle. _This human girl is really cute. So beautiful!_ "Tell me, Chigusa-san, why can't you swim. If you don't mind me asking?"

"No, it's okay Rei-kun. I should've told you guys in the beginning anyways. That's why Gou was so worried about me. All I had was a bad experience when I was a kid where I almost drowned, there's nothing more to tell. Ever since then, I've always been terrified of going into the water. Whether it is the ocean, lake, or pool too."

"I see. I'm sorry to hear that." Rei suddenly got an idea. "Maybe, if you want, I can teach you how to swim! For the longest time, I couldn't swim at all. I would sink to the bottom of the ocean floor with no reason why. But my friends taught me how, maybe I can teach you?"

Chigusa looked up at Rei. He genuinely wanted to help her out; it showed on his face. "You know, that would be wonderful, Rei-kun. I'd like that." She smiled sheepishly up at him.

That gesture from Chigusa made Rei's heart stop. "Of-of c-course!" he stammered out, beat-red on his face. _Th-this human is going to kill me!_

* * *

Gou was lying on top of Makoto's chest while he lazily floated on his back. They spent the time talking about their lives, laughing whenever one mentioned anything funny.

"So, all three of us had to help Rei learn how to swim because he literally used to sink like a rock. His family used to leave him behind whenever they visited relatives at another reef because they didn't want to be the ones to drag him. One time he tried to follow but sank so fast that he hit face on the ocean floor. As ten year olds, we thought it was the funniest thing to see, even Haru cracked a grin. So we all spent time to teach him how to maneuver in the water. It was a long long time, but we managed to succeed."

"Wow, I didn't think mermen would have trouble swimming. I thought you all were born with it."

"Well, we kind of are, I guess Rei was an exception." Makoto chuckled.

Both of them sighed and enjoyed the quiet between them. It was actually a much comfortable silence. However, Gou quickly brought up another question for Makoto.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Ha, you already have."

Gou turned on her tummy so she could face toward his head. "Makoto, I'm serious."

Makoto brought up his head and looked at the girl. "Yes?"

"How come you were so adamant about not being friends with me when we first met? That you called yourself a 'monster'?"

Makoto stared into Gou's eyes for a few seconds, debating to tell her anything or not. He sighed and brought his head back down and looked at the sky. "I swore to myself when I was young that I was to never befriend another human again."

"Again? What happened, Makoto?"

He took a deep breath before continuing. "When I was a young orca, I met this older fisherman when I was looking for fish to eat. I ended up getting caught in his net, so he helped untangle me out of there. I couldn't understand anything he was saying because he spoke the human language but I could tell he was apologizing to me. From then, I would visit him every day out at sea. He taught me a lot about humans and even taught me the language in exchange for helping me and wanting to know more about me. One day, the sky was getting dark and he needed to return to land before the storm began. I was about to swim with him to make sure he made it to safety, but he refused and told me he was going to be fine and not worry about him. I obeyed him, but I knew I shouldn't have. When he started sailing away, I thought I needed to make sure he was going to be fine, I was having trouble trying to figure out that choice I needed to take. Once I made the choice to help him, I was already too late. His…ship got caught in the storm miles away and I wasn't able to save him. I…" Makoto choked out. "I wish I didn't second guess myself like that. Because of that, I'm a monster for letting him die like that. It's my fault."

Gou carefully climbed up his chest to reach his face. She leaned forward and wiped the tears that were falling from his green eyes. "Makoto. Listen to me. It was not your fault. Okay? Never think like that. It was not your fault, it was no ones." She stretched her arms so that she was hugging his face. Makoto shut his eyes and quietly sobbed.

"Thank you, Gou." He whispered into her body that was above him. Gou fought the urge to laugh because his breath was tickling her. She was there to console him, not to joke around at the time.

She rubbed the side of her head against his cheek. "Any time, Makoto. Any time."

* * *

"Look, there they are!" Chigusa pointed out to Rei. Rei kept Chigusa company until sunset, signaling Makoto and Gou that it was time to go home. Makoto with Gou on his head again swam up to shore. Makoto brought Gou down and placed her on the sand next to Chigusa. The girls turn to wave at the two giant mermen.

"Maybe we can see you guys again tomorrow?" Chigusa asked. "This time, I'll stay on land until I'm ready to go back out there, okay?"

All of them laughed. Rei waved at the girls. "It was great to meet you two!" He dived in the water as soon as he looked at Chigusa the longest. He hoped he wasn't that obvious about it.

"Makoto? Can I secretly tell you something in your ear, please?" Chigusa questioned Makoto.

His face twisted in confusion. "Uh, sure Chigusa-chan." He held his hand out to her and Chigusa carefully climbed aboard. He brought her up to his ear while Gou was watching the two of them in wondered silence.

"Make sure you take good care of my best friend, Makoto. Promise me that." Chigusa whispered in his ear. He started blushing but quickly nodded to Chigusa's promise. "Good." She confirmed, folding her arms across her chest in satisfaction. He brought her down next to Gou and waved his goodbyes at the girls before diving in the ocean.

The girls put their clothes back on and gather their stuff before heading back to the train station. Chigusa already ate her lunch when she was with Rei so Gou was snacking on her food she brought while walking. "Tell me what you said to him, Chigusa." She said, spraying crumbs with each word.

Chigusa looked at her in disgust. "Eww, close your mouth. I just told him something for only him to know. Nothing that concerns you really."

Gou took a swig of water to wash down the food in her mouth. "Oh, please. It was something that does concern me. I mean, why would it have been a secret?"

"It's nothing, I swear."

"Tell me!"

"No."

"Ugh, why won't you tell meeeeee?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Just because."

Gou groaned throughout the whole train ride back to her town. To change the subject, Chigusa told Gou that Rei was going to help her how to swim whenever they visited, in which Gou was absolutely thrilled for. "Oooooh, it was also very obvious that he was smitten with you."

"Gou, who uses the word smitten anymore?"

"Well, I still do. And he was! Did you not see the way he looked at you? Plus he's going out of his way to teach you how to swim. Ohhh, and he also saved you. How romantic." She gushed.

Chigusa blushed, looking away. "Yes, Gou, I saw the way he looked at me. He's very…cute." Her face reddened.

"Yes! Well since you said that, you should tell me what you told Makoto."

Chigusa quickly stood up since they made it to their train stop. "No."

"Why not?" Gou whined, both of them walking out of the train to the bike rack. They stopped in their tracks when they saw a red-haired boy standing in front of the bikes, his arms crossed against his chest. "Uh oh."

"Uh oh, is right." Rin unfolded his arms and pointed at both of them, his eyes furrowed in irritation. "You two are going to tell me where you both went to all day. Now."

The girls looked at each other before looking back at Rin, gulping in fright.

"We can explain. But please don't tell mom." Gou pleaded.

"Actually, it would be best if you don't tell anyone at all." Chigusa added.

Rin clicked his tongue. "Fine. Now start talking."


	5. Chapter 5

This may be the lamest filler chapter ever. I'm so sorry. I just...I just hope you like it. I hope to work on the next chapter soon, most likely next week since it was my birthday yesterday and a lot of my friends wants to take me out for a drink this weekend because I turned the big 2-1. Omg. But thank you, thank you, thank you, thank youuuuuu so much for liking this story. I'm getting so many views on here, ao3, and deviantart! Oh! Just to let y'all know, I drew cover pages for the stories so if you want to see them, the link is on my profile :) I also drew a sketch of Makoto and Gou for "Hug a Giant Day" that's on my da. I'm just gonna keep saying thank you because I honestly mean it. Enjoy this lame chapter?! Haha.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Free! Iwatobi Swim Club.

* * *

"Start talking."

The three of them were currently sitting on stair steps in front of the train station, with Rin sitting on the top steps while the girls were on the bottom steps going back and forth staring at Rin and then at each other nervously.

"Well", Chigusa started out. "We were just visiting our friends that we met on the beach a few days ago. No big deal."

"No big deal?" Rin growled out. "It's past dinner time and both of you have not answered your phones. Your mom", he pointed at Chigusa, "said that today was the first time you were hanging out with Gou since the beach trip, and _you_", he pointed at Gou, putting a lot of emphasis on her name, "Mom is worried sick because you lied to her about where you were the past couple of days. If this is about a boy, you better start explaining now."

Gou just about had it. She stood up and crossed her arms, seething with anger. "Explain? How about you explain why you came back from Australia so soon? I mean, you haven't been here for part of my life, I don't think I need to explain my love life to you."

Rin and Chigusa stared at Gou in disbelief. "I…I don't know what to say." Rin stuttered out. He covered his face with his hand and heaved a sigh. "Fine, Gou. I'm really sorry. You just…grew up too fast, that's all. I'll tell you about Australia." Gou sat back down and listened carefully to Rin. "I hit a few bumps over there, you know? I was studying abroad; I was all alone over there. I guess I had a few falling outs and I just… kind of gave up on my dream. Like I lost inspiration, I guess."

"I didn't know, onii-san. I'm really sorry." Gou stood up and took a couple of steps towards Rin. She leaned down and gave him a hug. "It's okay. This will get better, I know it. Don't worry." Rin hid face in Gou's shoulder so no one would see him shedding a few tears.

"Thank you, Gou. I'm also sorry. I was just acting like how a big brother should act like." He pulled back and ruffled her hair. "To give him the benefit of the doubt, let me meet your boyfriend tomorrow."

"Uh…" Gou looked back at Chigusa, who was just staring at the two awkwardly. She glanced back at Rin and grimaced. "You can't."

One of Rin's eyebrows raised up. "What do you mean I can't?"

"Because I said so."

"That doesn't mean anything, Gou. I'm the older one here."

"But I don't want you to meet him."

"Well, I'm gonna."

"Nuh uh."

"Yes huh!"

"You're not going to meet him."

"And why not?"

"Because…" Gou bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut. "He's a merman."

Rin stared at Gou for two seconds before busting out laughing. "Are you kidding me, Gou? Is it because he's ugly or something? I don't care, weirdo, just don't make up things like that because you don't want me to meet him."

"Uhhh…" Gou sat back down on the steps. "I'm not lying."

"Seriously? That's hard for me to believe. You're dating a mermaid?"

Chigusa piped up. "Correction: he's a merman."

Rin shook his head at that. "Okay, a freaking merman?! Gou, explain this to me now."

Gou took a big breath. "Okay. Soooooooo I went on the trip with Chigusa and the other girls on the beach and they just stayed there on the sand while I went out and swam in the ocean. I was in there for too long that I didn't notice that a storm was forming and then the waves picked up and then one huge wave dragged me underwater so I was drowning, right? So there I am, almost dying when all of a sudden something huge rescued me and took me toward a cove to help me breathe again. By then, I was already passed out when it rescued me so after it performed CPR, I suppose, I coughed up water and started breathing again. Whoever saved me was about to go back in the ocean to leave me there but I stopped him. You never believe it, but it was like this orca merman that was so huge, he is actually the size of an orca! Well, ever since then, I started hanging out with him, his name is Makoto, and his friends, and Chigusa just met them today and long story short we're all friends with mermen. Okay, story over, let's go home." Gou stood up, grabbed Chigusa, and dragged her towards their bikes.

Rin scratched head. "I don't know what was more insane: hanging out with mermen or the fact that you told me a whole story without taking a breath. Hey! Don't start taking off without me!"

"Whatever, onii-san! You don't believe it, so it doesn't matter anymore."

"I'll believe it when I see it, Gou. Have some faith in me."

Gou sighed and looked back at Rin. "Tomorrow. You're coming with us. You don't tell anyone about this, got it? And you're going to behave, okay?"

Rin put his hands up in front of him in defense. "Geez, all right. I understand and I'll 'behave'." He used air quotations, still shaking his head in disbelief.

* * *

"Ow! Mako-chan! Why would you do that?!" Nagisa puffed out his cheeks at Makoto. He was sporting a big bump on his head, with Haru steaming to himself in the corner of the reef they were currently in. Makoto gave a huge lecture to Haru, for him to not be rude and leave when the girls were present. He even warned him if he did it again Makoto will take away his stash of mackerel. Makoto also gave a stern lecture to Nagisa for being too careless and selfish with his new human friend. That deserved a beating on the head from Mama Makoto.

"Nagisa-kun, you know full and well why he did that to you. You almost drowned Chigusa-san." Rei countered, blushing a bit of pink when he spoke of Chigusa.

"I didn't mean to! I swear!" Nagisa whined, swimming around Makoto. Makoto had his arm crossed and eyes closed; he was trying to be as stern as possible but his façade was falling through when he heard Nagisa crying. When he opened one eye, he saw Nagisa in his face pouting like a child with tears in his eyes. Makoto closed his eyes again and heaved a heavy sigh.

"Fine, Nagisa, I forgive you. Just don't ever do it again. You need to be careful with Gou-chan and Chigusa-chan. They're humans and they're really fragile."

"I understand, Mako-chan. I'm sorry." Then his eyes started to sparkle with delight. "I know! Rei-chan, you said you were going to help teach Chigusa-chan how to swim? How about I help out too?!" He swam up to Rei and started begging. "Please, Rei-chan?"

Rei blinked and then adjusted his goggles in annoyance. "I don't think it'll be that big of a deal, you just need to ask Chigusa-san."

Nagisa pulled back and smiled at Rei in satisfaction. He started singing to himself, "I get to help Chigusa-chan how to swimmmm!" causing Rei to roll his eyes.

Makoto looked over at Haru. "You okay, Haru?"

Haru tilted his head at Makoto. "Yeah. Are you going to take my mackerel away?"

Makoto chuckled. "It's alright, Haru, I won't take it away from you. You just can't be rude to Gou-chan and Chigusa-chan, okay?"

Haru glared at Makoto. "Don't threaten to take my mackerel away again."

"Geez, Haru, I won't!"

"Okay. I'll try to talk to them tomorrow."

Makoto grinned. "Good. Thank you, Haru."

"Anything for you and your girlfriend."

"Aww, not this again."

* * *

After Gou and Rin walked Chigusa back to her house, they started the trek on back to their home. Gou looked over at Rin, who was guiding her bike on foot for her. "Do you know if mom cooked something?"

"Of course she did. I covered for you so mom isn't mad at you for lying to her. She's actually really happy that you are talking to a 'boy'. So, you owe me."

"Right, right. Okay. Geez, she wants me to have a boyfriend so bad. Plus, he's not even considered my boyfriend yet, I just met him like let me keep talking to him."

"But he's a whale. Don't they mate instead of date?" Rin paused, chuckling at his joke he made to himself.

"Shut up. I don't know how it goes. But all I know that he's the sweetest guy I've ever met. And he has the best muscles ever…" Gou started to daydream, looking off in the distance with a googley-eyed face.

"Eww, Gou, stop. Stop that." Rin looked at her in disgust. They made it to their home and walked in. Before Rin called out to his mom to tell her that they were home, he stopped in his tracks when he heard laughter coming from the kitchen. Both Rin and Gou looked at each other in confusion. They heard their mom and some man laughing. "Mom? We're home!" he called out hesitantly.

"Oh! Welcome back! And you're here just in time too!" they heard her walking with the stranger toward the front door. "Look who came to visit you since he found out you came back home, Rin!"

Rin's eyes grew in surprise. "Sousuke?!"

"Hey, Rin. Gou." The tall figure grinned and nodded at Rin and Gou. "Long time no see."


	6. Chapter 6

Hello everyone! Here's another long chapter, hopefully this chapter fulfills your fluffy needs between Makoto and Gou. The layout of everything looks weird because I typed most of this on my phone and two other computers back and forth. Thank you again for supporting and reading this story and thank you for the birthday wishes! I got my first margarita in public and my friends are like, why aren't you wastey-pants yet? And I'm like, because this isn't my first drink and I am not a lightweight. Haha, but it's all good. I hope you enjoy this chapter! I hope to update real sooner than what I did for this chapter.

Again, thank you thank you thank you.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Free! Iwatobi Swim Club.

* * *

"Hey, Rin. Gou." He nodded at them. "Long time no see."

"Sousuke-kun!" Gou exclaimed, running to him for a hug. He happily outstretched his arms for the oncoming tackle from Gou. She laid her chin on his chest to look at his face. "Where've you been?! You left me all alone in elementary!"

Sousuke chuckled and patted Gou's head. "Sorry, sorry. I'll explain that later. Right now, let's all eat your mom's wonderful cooking."

Mrs. Matsuoka laid her hands on her cheeks in awe. "Oh, no need to say that dear!"

Rin rolled his eyes and walked up to Sousuke. They stared at each other with glared eyes until they lunged forward. Gou covered her face in panic but when she peeked in between her fingers, she saw that the boys were just doing their secret handshake. Gou let out a sigh of relief and shook her head. "You boys are too much."

The boys chuckled and hugged each other. "No need to worry, Gou. I just haven't seen this big guy in ages!" Rin exclaimed, clamping a hand on Sousuke's shoulder.

Minutes later, everyone was gathered around the table, catching up with Sousuke while eating dinner.

"So Sousuke-kun, how is high school going for you? It's your last year, right?" Mrs. Matsuoka inquired.

"Actually ma'am, I already graduated. I finished early and I'm working with my father in his lab."

"Oh wow, congratulations! What does he do again?"

"He is a marine biologist. I hope to become one someday, but it's a dream to already be working in the field with my dad."

Gou raised her eyebrows. "That sounds incredible. You get to hang out with marine animals, huh?"

Sousuke shook his head. "Not in particular. I rather study them for facts. Who would want to swim around with what they're studying?"

Gou looked at her food and moved it around with her chopsticks. "I actually would." She said meekly.

Gou's mom and Sousuke looked at Gou in surprise. Rin wasn't that surprised since she told him that she's been swimming around with mermaids. _Wait, mermen. I keep forgetting that. Damn. _"Why would you want to do that?" Sousuke asked.

"I don't know, it seems like fun." Gou's eyes sparkled. "Especially with orcas! They're so beautiful."

Gou's mom stared at her in confusion. "Where did this come from? You weren't interested in marine biology before."

"That boy I met was the one that got me interested in it." Gou said, looking away to the side.

"You're going to have to bring that boy over someday for dinner, Gou."

"No!" Both Gou and Rin shouted. That outburst shocked everyone. Rin cleared his throat. "Ah, I mean let Gou get to know this boy more, mom. I mean, they just met."

"That's awfully kind of you, Rin. I guess that's fine." Gou's mom said, looking back and forth between the two, trying to figure out what was going on. She gave up, knowing it will be ridiculous to comprehend between her teenage children.

Sousuke cleared his throat to change the subject. "So, your new boyfriend likes killer whales?"

"He's not my boyfriend and yes, you can say that." Gou said, blushing a pink hue on her cheeks because of one major detail she can't mention about Makoto.

"That's interesting. We're actually going to start studying more about orcas soon." Sousuke stated, taking a bite of his food.

Gou's ruby eyes went wide. "What do you mean?"

"We're going to go out in the field, the ocean if you will, and look for orcas."

Gou abruptly stood up from her spot at the table, startling everyone. "Uh, excuse me. I need to take a shower, I'm really exhausted from today. Thank you for dinner, mom and it's great to see you again, Sousuke-kun. Goodnight, everyone!" she rapidly said, while turning around and headed up stairs.

Rin glanced down at her food she left at her spot on the table. _Something's wrong. She usually eats all her food. _He looked back at Sousuke and eyed him suspiciously. _What does he mean that he's going to look for orcas?_

* * *

"You ready, onii-chan?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

It was the next day and Rin and Gou were walking towards Chigusa's house to pick her up. When they reached Chigusa's house, Rin took the initiative to knock on her door. Chigusa opened the door with a scared look.

"Wha? What's wrong, Chigusa?"

"I'm nervous because Rei is going to teach me how to swim and you know I get scared easily."

Gou walked up to Chigusa and put her hands on her shoulders. "It's going to be fine, Chigusa. Rei will keep you safe, remember? You have to believe in yourself as well. Don't give up." Gou gave her a warm smile and enveloped her in a hug.

Chigusa sniffled. "Thanks, Gou. I needed to hear that."

"Can we go now?" Rin asked impatiently.

Gou snapped her head at him. "Can't you see that I'm consoling my best friend?! Geez, come on, let's go." She grabbed Chigusa's arm and started walking towards the train station.

"So, your boyfriend's an orca merman, right? What about his other friends?" Rin questioned while riding the train. Gou looked around and was grateful they were the only ones on the train again.

"Uh, I guess you can say they're normal mermen? Since Makoto is an orca, he's quite bigger than the others. But he's such a big baby, he wouldn't hurt a fly. Oh, and not my boyfriend." Gou reminded him.

"Whatever, I mean your **mate**." Rin sneered.

"Ugh!" Gou slapped his arm. "Stop talking like that."

They reached their next stop at the beach and started walking towards the cove.

"Rin-san, they are bigger than us so don't freak out. They're quite harmless." Chigusa said, looking towards Rin on the other side of Gou.

Rin clicked his tongue. "Don't worry. I won't get freaked out by giant fish."

Gou stopped in her tracks and whipped her head around to glare at Rin. "Onii-san, if you are going to keep acting like that, you can go ahead and go home. Your attitude is seriously pissing me off and I don't want you meeting them acting like that. You're not taking this seriously, sure I understand that because it's hard to believe, but don't be rude about it. They're my friends and I don't need someone negative like you to meet them." Gou finished her speech, huffing with anger.

Rin stepped back, surprised by Gou's outburst. Part of him was quite proud of her for standing up for her and friends. With that, he heaved a heavy sigh. "Gou, I'm sorry. I'll stop. Now that I see how much you care about them, I know that they mean well. I'll behave." He said, giving her a hopeful smile.

Gou grinned back. "It's okay, onii-san. As long as you understand. Come on, we gotta hurry."

After they had their brief talk, they continued forward toward the cove to meet the guys. When they reached the cove, the girls quickly changed out of their clothes and into their bathing suits that were underneath. Rin turned around abruptly so give them privacy. After they were done, especially when Rin stripped off his clothes to reveal his swimming trunks and toned body, Gou went towards the shallow water and whistled a tune.

"What was that?" Chigusa asked.

"Makoto said that if they weren't here already to just whistle that sound and they'll be here."

Rin glanced at Gou with a raised eyebrow. "They can really hear that?"

Gou looked back at the ocean and grinned like a madwoman. "Yes. Yes they can."

Chigusa and Rin looked back towards the ocean and saw a giant black dorsal fin coming towards the shore. Gou ran up to Makoto once he surfaced.

Rin gasped beside Chigusa. She looked at his shocked face and laughed. "Yeah, that was me yesterday."

Makoto was already picking Gou up and hugging her against his chest. "I missed you already."

Gou was gigging against his abs. "It was only for a day. But I sure missed you too." She stretched her arms as far as she could to return the hug her own way. She leaned her head back to look up at his face. "Makoto, I have someone I want you to meet." Makoto gently placed Gou down and she ran towards Rin. She took his hand and dragged him over to Makoto. "This is my brother Rin. Rin, this is Makoto."

Makoto outstretched his finger towards Rin carefully. "It's an honor to meet you, Rin-san."

Rin hesitantly reached his hand out to his finger. "I-it's nice to meet you too, thanks. And thank you for saving my sister that time."

Makoto smiled gently with his eyes shut. "It's no problem at all."

When Rin pulled his hand back, Gou asked Makoto, "Where are the others?"

"They should be coming. They were right behind me." Makoto said, looking back at the water.

"Mako-chan! Gou-chan! Chigusa-chan!" They heard Nagisa yell from a distance. He was with Rei and Haru, who was lazily following them from behind. When they reached the shore, Nagisa looked at Rin with a puzzled face. "Who is this?"

Gou stood in front of Rin. "Everyone, this is my older brother, Rin." She glanced back at Rin. "These are my friends. This is Nagisa, Rei, and Haru." She said while pointing at each one of them.

Nagisa squirmed himself on the sand in front of Rin and held out his large hand and grabbed Rin's smaller hand and shook it. "Hello, Rin-chan! It's a great to meet you!"

Rin bit his tongue to prevent him from throwing out profanities. "Uh, likewise."

Rei waved from behind. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Rin-chan-san."

"Drop the -chan, please."

"Ah, sorry, Rin-san." Rei adjusted his goggles nervously.

Everyone looked over at Haru, expecting some sort of greeting to come from him. Haru downcast his eyes toward the side and said, "Hey."

Nagisa rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about Haru. He's always like that. Now that we have done our introductions, it's time for Chigusa-chan's swimming lesson!" he exclaimed.

Chigusa's face twisted in fright. "Uh, Nagisa-kun is coming along too?"

Rei came up to Chigusa. "Don't worry, Chigusa-san, I'll make sure you're safe. Besides, Nagisa is one of the merpeople that taught me how to swim. It'll be all right, trust me." He smiled and offered his hand out to Chigusa.

Chigusa looked back at Gou. Gou grinned gleefully. "It's okay, Chigusa. I trust that Rei-kun will keep you safe, right Rei-kun?"

Rei nodded his head. "Of course, Gou-san. I'll make sure to do that!" His cheeks tinted a bit of pink when he looked at Chigusa again. _She really does look beautiful._ He grabbed Chigusa's hand and led her into the water. "If you want, Chigusa-san, you can ride on my back for the time being."

"Oh, sure, Rei-kun." He bent forward and allowed her to climb onto his back.

"Hold on tight, Chigusa-san." He glided forward slowly out in the ocean, with Nagisa tagging along behind.

"We'll come back to the shore later when the sun sets!" Nagisa hollered out and waved at the remaining group.

Gou looked back at Rin. "I'm going to hang out with Makoto. You can stay here if you want or talk to Haru? Yeah, you should talk to Haru."

Before Rin could even protest, Makoto already had Gou on her spot on his head and headed into the ocean. Rin looked over at Haru, who was staring at him from a distance in the water. "So, Haru, you like the ocean?" _That was the lamest question ever, Rin. _

Haru picked an eyebrow up in confusion but answered in his own way with a swish of his tail back and forth.

Rin chuckled. "I guess that's a yes then. Are you fast in the water?" Haru nodded. "Then did you want to race me?" Haru's eyes glistened at the idea. He kept his composure but nodded his head eagerly. "Alright then, let's see who's the fastest. Go!" And with that they were off side by side in the water. Rin hadn't felt this rush in ages. He glanced over at Haru and smirked. _He's good. What am I thinking, of course he's good! He's a freaking merman!_ Deep down, Rin knew he needed this competitive rush and Haru was definitely fulfilling it thoroughly.

* * *

"Hmm. It looks like they're racing." Gou said, using her hand over her eyes to peer from afar. "Looks like they're getting along, Makoto."

"Yes, seems like it." Makoto murmured, staring at the sight from a distance. He was quite surprised that Haru opened up that fast to someone, especially a human. He smiled warmly at the sight.

Gou hung her arms forward over Makoto's forehead. "So, Makoto, tell me about your family."

"What do you want to know?"

She snorted. "Uh, everything."

"I guess that's fine. Well, I have my mother, my father, and my two younger siblings Ren and Ran. I don't live with them anymore because I already reached the age of maturity of an orca to go live on their own and, well, find a mate…" he said the last part quietly, even though Gou heard him loud and clear.

"So you don't see your family anymore?"

"Not really, no. It's just the way it is in the ocean. The guys are in the same place as me, well except for Rei and Nagisa. They have one more year to go. Haru and I are at the age to live on our own and… you know the rest."

"Wow. Um, does it matter whatever mate you find?"

"Like as a girl or a boy? If so, it can be either one."

"What about if your mate was a different species…?" Gou softly said.

"It's frowned upon in our society. But there are others that mate with other species."

"Even humans?"

"Sadly, yes. But it has to be hidden from our society since it's against the rules."

Gou laid her chin on Makoto's soft olive hair. "What if I said I liked you?"

Makoto felt her movement on top of his hair and severely blushed at her words. "I, uh, I-I would say th-that would be okay because I, uh, li-like you too."

Gou grinned. "Good. Because I do really like you, Makoto."

"I, oh gosh, I like you too, Gou."

"So it's settled?" Gou leaned over to look at him in his droopy green eyes.

He flushed a bit more. "Settled?"

"I'm your girlfriend. Or in your words, your mate?"

And that did it. He blew water out of his blowhole and thrashed his tail wildly in the water, causing Gou to get soaked and lose her footing on his head. Before she could slip off his head, Makoto gently scooped her up and brought her down to look at her in front of his face. "I would love that very much, Gou. Yes, can you be my mate-I mean girlfriend?"

Gou threw her head back and cackled out loud. She wiped a tear from her eye from how hard she laughed. "Of course, I would love to, Makoto!" she exclaimed.

He brought her forward suddenly and kissed the top of her head. Gou could say she was stunned at the gesture but she practically melted in his hands. Almost literally and figuratively. Makoto brought her back up on his head and they enjoyed the afternoon alone together.

* * *

"Nagisa-kun, I got the hang of it, you can just watch." Rei snapped at Nagisa, trying to get him to stop taking over the swimming lesson with Chigusa. He could tell that she's still not comfortable with Nagisa yet and he tried to give enough hints to back off a bit. Partly because he wanted to hold her hands but Nagisa kept grabbing them from him.

Nagisa huffed in the water and turned his back on him. "Fine, Rei-chan! I just wanted to help."

"I understand, Nagisa-kun, but you were scaring Chigusa-san."

"Oh. Sorry, Chigusa-chan."

Chigusa was holding onto Rei's hand, trying to float the best she can in the water. She looked up and smiled at Nagisa. "It's okay, Nagisa-kun. I know you mean well, it's just going to take a little bit of time to get comfortable with you." She noticed that he started tearing up, causing her to panic. "Uh, it's not that I don't like you, Nagisa-kun! I just get scared easily!"

Nagisa sniffled and wiped his deep magenta eyes. "But why aren't you scared of Rei-chan?"

She looked up at Rei and he smiled nervously. She giggled. "Well, Nagisa-kun, it's mostly because he saved me, I guess." She looked away, blushing mildly.

"I guess that makes sense. I'm so sorry about that time again, Chigusa-chan. I'll never ever ever ever do it again!"

"It's completely alright, Nagisa-kun! I forgive you!"

Rei opened up his hands and had Chigusa grab onto them while floating on her stomach. "Okay, Chigusa-san, I need for you to start kicking your feet." She did as she was told. "Alrighty, I'm going to start swimming slowly backwards, I just need for you to keep kicking." He gently swam backwards, having Chigusa keep up with his pace. "Now I'm going to let go slowly and I want you to do that paddling I showed you." When he said that, Chigusa got nervous but shook it off real quick with determination. When he gently let go of his hands, she started doing the doggy-paddle, successfully staying afloat. "You're doing great, Chigusa-san!" Rei said, smiling at the sight.

"You go Chigusa-chan! You're swimming!"

Rei brought his hands back up in front of Chigusa and she quickly grabbed hold to keep steady. "I can't believe I did it. Thank you so much, Rei-kun!" her smile widening when she closed her eyes.

Rei couldn't help but get flustered from her beautiful face. "I-it's my pleasure, Chigusa-san!"

* * *

Rin was breathing heavily, trying to catch his breath before taking off in the water again. He had to catch up with Haru no matter what. Rin looked around in the ocean and grew confused. "Where did he go? I saw him just a second ago." Rin said to himself. Suddenly, he was pulled underwater by his right foot. Rin gasped, forgetting to get some breath before being pulled in. He opened his eyes and saw Haru before him. When Haru let go of his leg, Rin swam back up to the surface and gasped for breath. Haru was up at the surface in seconds right next to him. "Haru! Why did you do that?!"

Haruka shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno. I wanted to know if you could breathe underwater."

"Huh? Why would I do that? I'm human!"

"You swim like you're a fish. I was just checking."

"You could've just asked."

"I wanted to see for myself."

Rin clicked his tongue and folded his arms over his chest. "You're crazy, you know." He then grinned. "But you are incredibly fast in the water, I gotta give you that."

Haru faintly smiled, but before Rin could even notice it Haru already wiped it off of his face. Haru then looked up at the sky. "It's sunset."

Rin looked up too. "I guess you're right. We have to meet up with the others." He caught Haru's eyes. "Race you back to shore?"

Haru was already gliding away in the water. "Hey! No fair!" Rin yelled, beginning to swim toward the shore as fast as he could.

When they reached the shore, Chigusa, Rei, and Nagisa were already hanging out together on the sand. It was a real sight to see because Chigusa was sitting on Rei's shoulder, eating her lunch she brought while talking to each one of them. Makoto and Gou weren't there yet, making Rin a tiny bit worried. Nagisa looked over at Rin and then at the sky. "Oh no! It's about time to go, Rei-chan! We have to make it home in time. Come on, let's go!" He waved at Chigusa and Rin before diving in the water.

Rei gently put Chigusa back on the sand. "Good job today, Chigusa-san. We'll work more tomorrow." He waved and then dived back in the water.

"I guess I should get going. See you tomorrow." Haru bowed at them before taking off.

"Wow." Chigusa stated.

Rin peered over at her. "What?"

"I never heard Haru talk. This is probably the longest he spoken today. What did you do?"

"Nothing. I just raced him in the water all day."

"That may be it. Good job, Rin-san."

"Uh, thanks?"

Minutes past and they can see Makoto and Gou swimming towards them. Once Makoto reached the sand, he scooped up Gou from his head, hugged her against his chest again, and placed her down. "Thank you for today, Makoto."

"You're very welcome, Gou."

Gou looked over at Rin and Chigusa. "Say bye to my boyfriend." She grinned cheekily.

Chigusa gasped. "Ah! I knew it!"

Rin could only stare. "What."

Before Gou could clarify any further, a loud bang was heard from behind of where Makoto was. Gou glanced back at him and stared at the sight in horror. Makoto was caught in a giant net designed for capturing whales. Makoto was struggling in the net until he was struck many tranquilizers. Gou, Rin, and Chigusa stared at the people on board the boat behind Makoto: they were whalers. Gou began paddling in the water toward the net and clawed at it. "Let him go!" she yelled with all her might. From the boat, a tranquilizer was hit on the side of her shoulder, knocking her out instantly. Rin drastically swam up and tried breaking the net but was shoved aside by a person with a familiar voice.

"It's no use, Rin. We are taking this orca in for research."

Rin was shocked. "Sousuke, how could you?"

Sousuke pointed at the boat that was starting to reel Makoto in. "That's my father's boat. I told you that we were going to do research on orcas soon. This is the only orca in the area." He smirked. "Knowing that he's a merman too is the jackpot in this project." He looked down at Rin. "Sorry to do this to you, Rin." Sousuke said before knocking him unconscious. He looked over at his assistants, two brothers with wild red hair. "Take him and the girl back to the lab. I'll go get the other girl." He said with no remorse, walking away towards the shore where Chigusa was.

The tallest brother, the eldest, picked up Rin and threw him over his shoulders. "You got her, Momotarou?"

"Yeah, aniki, I got her." Momotarou hoisted the unconscious Gou over his shoulder. "She's so cute."

"Momotarou, this isn't the time to gawk at a girl." Seijuurou said, beginning the trek back to the boat that's in shallow water. He peered at her from behind and grinned. "Even though she is pretty cute."

"I saw her first."

"Are we seriously going to fight over this. We are working right now. But if we weren't, she would pick me because I'm more mature."

"Whatever, aniki, I'm more strong."

"Shut it, Sousuke-san is coming back with the other girl. We got to head to the lab."

"Right, understood."


	7. Chapter 7

Hello everyone! Here's a new chapter and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! I was gushing the whole time when I was typing this at work. Oh lord. Haha, thank you so much for reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Free! Iwatobi Swim Club.

* * *

Gou woke up from her unconsciousness hours later. She assumed the tranquilizer she was hit with wore off, leaving her alone with her thoughts. She slowly looked around her surroundings; she was in a dark room with no windows. _I guess we're at Sousuke's dad's lab. I have got to find Makoto. _Gou started to get up but noticed that her wrist and ankles were bound together. She started struggling to free herself when she felt movement next to her. It startled her but once she adjusted her eyes in the darkness, she noticed it was Rin and Chigusa bound together next to her. She could tell that they were still unconscious. _Great, now I got to save all of us._ Before she could try and untie herself, she heard the doorknob to the dark room they were in jiggling unlocked. Gou quickly shut her eyes and pretended to be knocked out.

"I guess they're still unconscious, sir." Gou heard one man's voice say. It sounded deep and very gruffly.

"Good. You and your brother can drop them off at the train station. We can't have them knowing too much, especially Gou." Gou knew that voice was Sousuke's. It was hard for her in that moment not to lash out at him right then and there but she needed to stay quiet. She was also conflicted with emotion, trying her best not to let out her tears because of how much she felt betrayed by Sousuke. He was like another big brother to her and to find out that he did this so he can take Makoto, it really crushed her inside. "Uh, give me a second, will you?"

"Sure, sir." Gou heard footsteps leaving and the door close. She heard Sousuke's footsteps draw near to her, her heart beating rapidly.

"Gou." He said, centimeters away from her face. This caused her to flinch on accident. "I knew it. You can't hide from me."

Gou slowly opened her eyes to find Sousuke bent over her form, staring at her. She felt small and helpless in the position she was in but quickly held her ground.

"Why are you doing this?" she choked out. That surprised her; she thought she held back her tears.

Sousuke reached out and wiped her tears away with his thumb. "It's something I had to do. Even I don't think this is right."

"How?" she sobbed. "How can you do this if you think it's not right?"

"My father is forcing me." Sousuke said, averting his gaze from Gou's.

"How can I believe that? You basically kidnapped us!"

He turned back around and grabbed her shoulders. "Because if my father was in charge of this, he would have killed you and the others on the spot. I-I couldn't do that to you, especially you and Rin."

"Sousuke-kun." Gou said sternly. Her tone caused him to flinch. "If you do not think this is right, then you need to let him go."

"Gou…I can't."

"Why not? What can your father possibly do?"

"He was in charge of my future, Gou. I have a job and I'm getting good money."

"But you're not happy."

This caused Sousuke to gasp. His tough exterior was evaporating with each word Gou said. She was right; he was not happy at all. He had been brainwashed into thinking that capturing Makoto was the right thing to do all this time. Being a Marine Biologist was nothing to do with hurting the marine animals, that's not it at all! "It's because he was forcing me, brainwashing me, into thinking this was right. He wanted to capture the orca for a show. That's not what I wanted to do; I wanted to save these animals. Gou, I-I am so s-sorry." He whispered, leaning his head forward to hide the tears that were coming out of his eyes. "I'm sorry, Gou. Rin."

"I-it's alright, Sousuke-kun." Gou said, comforting him with her voice. "For me to forgive you, though, you know what you have to do."

Sousuke brought his head back up and looked in her eyes with determination. "I need to get you all out of here." He started untying her ropes when they both heard a grunt from behind. They turned to see Rin and Chigusa coming to, Rin making the most noise. When Rin locked eyes with Sousuke, he had fire blazing in his eyes. "Step away from my sister." He growled out.

"Onii-chan, it's okay. Please, he's helping us get out." Gou pleaded to Rin.

Rin clicked his tongue. "Gou, how am I supposed to believe that? He kidnapped us!"

"At least believe me, I am your sister."

"Ugh, fine, Gou. You," Rin said, giving Sousuke a look. "You better not be lying again. You have a lot of explaining to do."

"Well, um, he'll explain it later again. We need to get out of here now." After Sousuke finished untying Gou, he went over to untie Chigusa since Rin was literally seething at him, leaving Gou to untie Rin. "Okay, how are we getting out of here and how are we getting Makoto? Makoto is, well, too big for us to get."

They huddled up in a circle, trying to decide what to do. Sousuke brought his head back up with an idea. "I have this friend, who is another scientist, and I think he can make Makoto human. It will be a lot easier for us to carry him if he's our size."

"Do you know where he's at?" Chigusa asked.

"His name is Nitori and he should be at his apartment by now. He's the only one that hates working here but is a kid genius at home. He has his own lab in his room, it's crazy." Everyone stared at him in confusion. "Okay, back to the subject, I am going to find him to get that potion he has. I need you all to stay here and pretend you're still tied up. I'll be back before you know it."

"And we're supposed to trust you?" Rin inquired anger still evident on his face.

"Look, Rin, what I did was horrible and I hate myself for it but I'm making it up to you guys now. So please, as your best friend, trust me on this."

Rin pursed his eyes at Sousuke. "Tch, fine. If you do another stunt like before, that's it with our friendship."

Sousuke smirked. "Understandable. I won't do it again." He stood up and walked towards the door. "Stay here, I won't be gone for long. I'll tell the guards to watch over this door as well. Not for you guys escaping but honestly for your safety. My father can't find out about you all."

Once Sousuke left the room, he turned towards the Mikoshiba brothers. He stood tall and kept a calm composure. "Change of plans, I want you both to guard this door and not let anyone in there except for me. Understood?"

Both of the red headed brothers stood firm and saluted Sousuke. "Yes, sir.

* * *

_Why's it so dark? I can't move my arms. I can't swim away…Gou-chan. Gou, where are you? Help me, help me please. I hope you're not hurt. Please, Gou, be safe. _

* * *

Sousuke was already banging on Nitori's front door, calling out for him in the process. At sixteen years old, Aiichirou Nitori was the youngest scientist in Japan. He had already graduated high school and college, and now he's making a living by working at Sousuke's father's lab and his own at his apartment. Ai was adamant not to work at a lab that worked with a sea amusement park but the salary was hard not to pass up. Nitori rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock on his nightstand. It was ten at night and was deeply annoyed at the banging he heard at his front door. He groaned, stepped out of bed, and walked to his front door. Ai heard Sousuke yelling his name on the other side, making Ai become more confused as of why he was here late at night. "I'm coming!" Ai shouted, opening the locks of his front door. "What is it-?" Ai barely said, being cut off by Sousuke's towering form barging through his apartment. "What are you doing?!"

Sousuke whipped around and grabbed Ai by the shoulders. "Nitori, do you have a potion or some concoction to turn an animal of some sort into a human?!"

Ai could only stare at him. "Are you high?"

"No, I'm not! I'm in my right state of mind and I need to rescue the orca!"

"The orca that was caught today?"

"Yes! We need to save him and fast!"

Ai firmly put his hands over Sousuke's giant ones. "Calm down. I have the potion. But it can only last for a week. If I work on it some more, I think I'm able to make it to where it lasts forever. That should take about a week or so. The orca merman has the choice if he wants, but let me give you the potion I already have." Ai stepped to the side and walked to his living room/lab. He was mumbling to himself, shaking his head saying that he sounded high. Ai went to one of the shelves he has, took the potion, and packed it in a safe compartment for Sousuke to carry over his shoulder in a backpack. "Make sure he drinks all of it. I will be working on this potion in the meantime. I'm glad you're doing something, Sousuke-senpai. I don't agree to what your father is doing to that orca."

Sousuke nodded. "Thanks. And I know. I got my right sense of mind back and know how wrong this is. I'll call you back to check on the status. Thank you so much!" He turned to head out the door but felt something tug his shirt. He looked behind his shoulder to see Ai fidgeting with his shirt.

He looked up to meet Sousuke's eyes and said, "Tell your dad I'm not going to work for him. I can't do this anymore." Tears were starting to well up in his eyes.

Sousuke smiled and patted Ai's head. "Don't worry, Nitori. I'll make sure to tell him. The same time I tell him I quit too." Ai's face beamed when Sousuke said that. "Now I got to go, see you later!"

* * *

Gou leaned her head on Chigusa's shoulder, patiently waiting for Sousuke's return. She hoped that he wasn't lying again but she could see the sincerity in his eyes. _I hope Makoto is alright. I need to see him._ Rin was fidgeting in his spot, being the impatient one in the party. Before Rin could whine again, the doorknob turned open. Sousuke stepped in and sighed in relief. "Good, everyone is gone for the night and I turned off the cameras." He held the potion in front of them. "Let's go get him out of here."

Sousuke, Gou, Rin and Chigusa quietly left the room. Gou asked, "Where are your guards?"

"I had them take over the camera room and watch out for any trouble."

They reached the room where Makoto was kept in. Makoto was still passed out in a very spacious room in a giant tank for his size. Even though it could fit him, the tank didn't look like it had much room. Gou pushed her way through past Sousuke and climbed up the stairs that were on the side of the tank. "I'm going to wake him up!" she yelled, slipping into the tank and swam underwater. She swam up to his face and smacked his cheeks to wake him up. Makoto's eyes shot open and he began thrashing his tail back and forth from fright.

"Gou!" Rin yelled from outside the tank.

Gou was a safe distance away from his tail but it still shocked her nonetheless. She soothingly rubbed his face, calming him down. His green eyes took sight of her form, drooping down in relief and sadness. "Oh, Gou." He said, gently wrapping his hands around her form. Makoto surfaced with Gou to give her some air and once she had plenty, he held her against his chest. "Oh thank goodness you're alright. I was so worried."

She closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth he was giving her. "I was more worried about you, silly." She giggled. She leaned back and looked up at his face. "Come on, we need to get you out of here."

"How are you all going to do that?" he asked, looking down at the others. "I'm really big for you all the carry."

"That's why we got this potion to turn you human. So you take it and the boys should be able to carry you easily."

Makoto's eyes widened. "Me? Human?"

"This won't last too long but it's the only way. I'm sorry, Makoto."

"No, no, don't apologize. It's just… I guess I always wanted to know how it is as a human. And since I met you, I wanted to be one more than ever." He grinned, blushing.

Sousuke came up the stairs and passed the potion to Gou. Gou brought the potion up to his mouth, letting it slide past his lips. A minute passed before his body began jerking, heating up more than usual. He dropped Gou, causing her to swim back towards Sousuke. He pulled her up and they watched Makoto transform. Makoto had his eyes closed shut in pain, starting to scream out. It hurt Gou to watch him suffer and she wanted to dive back in to comfort him, but Sousuke kept a tight grip on her shoulder from doing so. Makoto began shrinking before their eyes. His dorsal fin and tail disappeared, replacing it with long legs. Gou turned away to the side when she noticed that he was naked, pink tinted on her cheeks. Makoto lay limply in the water, floating on his back, passed out from the pain. Gou dived back in the water and swam up to his new body. He was still bigger than her, a well-toned man compared to others. She ignored the nakedness part and placed her hand on his head. "Guys! We need to get him out of here fast! He's burning up!" she shouted, worry evident in her voice. Sousuke hoisted Makoto out of the water and on his back and hurriedly rushed down the stairs, with Gou right on his heels. Sousuke set Makoto on the ground next to Rin and Chigusa, shrugged out of the jacket, and placed it around Makoto and zipped it up.

"Chigusa-san, can you go in one of those drawers against the wall and find some pants? I think we have extras in there." Sousuke asked. Chigusa was right on it, rummaging through the drawers and found a pair of men's pants. She ran over and gave it to Sousuke. Him and Rin worked together to put it on Makoto, having the girls look the other way in embarrassment. Once they were done, Sousuke instructed Rin to pick Makoto up and lay him on Sousuke's back, similar to giving him a piggyback ride. Once everything was situated, they rushed out of the lab and into Sousuke's car in the back of the building. Sousuke placed Makoto in the backseat with the girls, Gou having Makoto rest his head on her lap. Rin climbed in the passenger seat while Sousuke climbed in the driver seat, starting the car quickly and backing out. "Where do we take him?"

Rin looked back at Gou and both of them stared at each other intently. "We should take him back at our house. I'll go in first to explain it to mom and you guys take him up to Gou's room. Chigusa, you get a warm wet towel and put it on his head when we get there."

Everyone nodded at the plan, while Sousuke drove in silence. Gou looked down and caressed Makoto's hair. His eyes were still shut in pain, he was breathing hard, and his face was flushed. _Don't worry, Makoto, we're almost home._

They arrived to the Matsuoka home twenty minutes later. Rin quickly ran out of the car and went straight to the front door. When his mom answered the door, Rin led her inside and turned back around to give the signal to bring Makoto in. Chigusa ran to the front door to go get the towel while Sousuke and Gou carried Makoto inside. They carried him up the stairs and into Gou's room, placing him on her bed. Chigusa made back with the wet towel and placed it on Makoto's forehead.

Hours passed: Rin explained everything to his mom, causing her alarmed state to grow in worry for Makoto's wellbeing. Surprisingly, she took it well and agreed for Makoto to stay with them for now. Gou's mom made some home remedies for Makoto's fever and once it went down, he needed more rest. Gou's mom also called Chigusa's mom, letting her know that she was alright and that Rin was going to walk her home. Sousuke bowed deeply for an infinite amount of times, sincerely apologizing for what had happened. "I'll let you know when the potion will be ready. Just in case, don't leave your house with Makoto. I'm sure they're going to be looking for him tomorrow. I will try and do some damage control in the meantime. Again, I'm truly sorry, everyone." Gou walked up to Sousuke and hugged him.

"We forgive you. What you did for us right now means a lot to me. Thank you for rescuing Makoto."

Sousuke's eyes welled up with tears, hugging her tighter into him. He released her and waved goodbye to everyone. Rin left straight after that to take Chigusa home.

"I'll be back later, okay?" Chigusa said, giving Gou a quick hug.

"Alright, thank you so much, Chigusa." Gou said, squeezing her hand. After they left, Gou turned back to her mom. She nervously stood in front of her. "Uh, I'm sorry for lying to you, mom."

"Gou. I understand why you had to keep this from me. Just, trust me in the future, okay? I'm not the enemy here." She said, smiling at her daughter. "Honestly, I'm so proud of you, Gou." And that was when the tears came out of Gou's eyes and she cried uncontrollably into her mom's chest. Her mom was comforting her, the best way a mother could do. As soon as she finished, Gou stepped back and said goodnight. Her mother smirked, "Because of the certain circumstances, I'll allow you to sleep with a boy in your room. Okay?"

Gou's face heated up. "Mom!"

* * *

Makoto opened his eyes and stared at his surroundings. He was in a small room, covered in pictures of muscularly men and the color blue everywhere. Makoto sat up and noticed something odd. _I have… legs?! That potion thing must have worked, I'm human! Wait, where's Gou?_ He looked around and sniffed. _This whole place smells like Gou. This cushion I'm on smells like her too. This must be what humans call a bed to sleep on._ He was interrupted from his thoughts when he heard the door of the room open and shut closed. There in front of him was Gou. _His_ Gou. Gou was startled to see him awake but quickly recovered and smiled in his direction. "Oh, Makoto, I'm glad you're okay." She rushed towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He was caught off guard by the sudden movement but returned the gesture, embracing her with eagerness.

"I'm actually holding you." Makoto breathed out, taking in Gou's scent against the crook of her neck.

Gou shivered when she felt his breath on her neck. She pulled back and grabbed his face in her hands. "I can't believe I am too." She said.

Makoto couldn't control his emotions. He held her face in his hands and gently pressed his lips on hers. It was full of passion and longing. Gou kissed back against him, yearning for more of his love. He slowly grazed his hands down her shoulders, past her arms, and placed them on her hips to bring her closer to him. Despite how much he shrunk, he still towered over her. And secretly, he preferred it that way. They pulled back for breath, gazing at each other lovingly. Makoto rested his forehead on hers and sighed. "I've wanted to do that."

"I'm glad you did it like this. Otherwise, you would have crushed me in your other body."

Makoto pouted. "Gou, act serious for this."

She laughed. "Sorry, it's just a dream come true that you're here."

"It's not a dream, it's a miracle." He said, before crashing his lips on her soft ones again.


	8. Side-chapter-Smut

Hello everyone! This is a side chapter that includes, omg, SMUT. So, to be warned, this chapter is a very shameless lemon, shameless because OMG THIS IS MY FIRST TIME WRITING A LEMON AND I'M BLUSHING HARD. I'm going to change the rating on this fic because of that lol. I hope to work on the next chapter real soon so keep your eyes peeled! Again, thank you thank you thank you for reading and supporting this fic.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Free! Iwatobi Swim Club.

* * *

"It's not a dream, it's a miracle." He said, before crashing his lips on her soft ones again. He pulled her closer in his lap, meshing their bodies together, chest to chest. Makoto pulled away from her lips to look at her face. "You look absolutely breathtaking."

Gou slapped him on the shoulder teasingly. "Please, I am not."

Makoto grabbed her face in his hands again to force her to look at him in the eyes. "You are, Gou. You are beautiful."

When Gou gasped from his comment, Makoto took initiative and slipped his tongue in her open mouth. He explored her hot cavern, tasting her gingerly. Once he pulled back, a string of saliva was connected between the two of them. Suddenly, he grunted in pain, holding his crotch in between his hands. Gou leaned back in surprise. "Are-are you okay?"

Makoto unclenched his pained face and looked at her, flushed red. "My-um, this happens when I get ready to mate..." He said, pointing to his crotch. Gou followed his hands and smirked.

"Makoto, that's normal. No need to get so...nervous." She said. Deep down, Gou was the one that was screaming inside. _Nervous?! I'm freaking nervous! This is my first time getting so close to a boy and he got scared of his own boner! Well, he was an orca... Uh, what do I do?!_ "Makoto, it's okay." She breathed out, gazing in his droopy emerald eyes. Just that one look did it. His eyes shrouded dark in lust and he pounced in her. Her head hit the mattress, facing towards the end of the bed. Before Gou could register what had happened, Makoto's lips were once again on hers. He pulled back and softly grazed her ear with his lips.

"Gou, can I take you?"

Gou's breath hitched. She squeezed her eyes shut and calmed her pacing heart. "It's my first time."

He moved his head to stare at her crimson eyes. "Of course. It's mine too." He said huskily, causing Gou to shiver beneath him. "If you do not want to proceed any further, I will stop. You have my word."

"Okay." Gou sat up and got out of bed. "I need to get something first, wait here." She left a confused, sexually frustrated Makoto on her bed and she was scolding herself because of it. Gou left her room quietly and walked towards Rin's room. He mentioned something about heading back to Sousuke's place to talk and spend the night after walking Chigusa back to her house, so that left his room empty for tonight. Even though he wasn't there, Gou tiptoed to his nightstand, opening up the drawer. She quietly rummaged through the contents until she found what she was looking for: a box of condoms. _I swear I'm going to hell because of ALL of this. _After she grabbed one, she put everything back and slowly left his room, making it unnoticeable that she went in there. Gou peeked around, finding that Gou's mom was already sound asleep in bed, downstairs in her room and far away from any sound she makes in her room. _I still think I'm going to hell. Yeah, I am. _Gou silently travelled back to her room, opening and locking the door behind her. She was not at all prepared for the sight before her. There, on her bed, was Makoto laid naked flat on his back, palming his exposed penis, stroking it back and forth to relieve the pain. His eyes shot open and darted towards her face, surprise etched all over his.

"Um, I-I couldn't help it, G-Gou." He said, his already flushed face turning redder. In the dark, Gou could tell that he was hurting, he was panting, wanting a release so bad. She placed the condom on her nightstand and climbed on her bed to straddle him.

"Don't worry, Makoto. I'm going to help you." She drawled out, unfastening the hold he had on his length and replaced it with her fingers. She stroked his length, sliding up and down. Makoto bucked his hips, gathering the sheets in his grip.

"Please, Gou." He pleaded, panting out her name. She smirked and leaned forward, taking him up in her mouth. He bucked his hips again and grabbed Gou's hair. "Oh, Gou!" He cried out, beginning to thrust in her mouth while she sucked. She bobbed her head in time of his thrusts, cupping his balls to increase his pleasure. "Gou, I can't-" Makoto had a death grip on her scalp. "Its coming-" Makoto breathed, releasing his hot fluid in her mouth. Once he was done, Gou pulled back and swallowed, shivering at the taste. "Gou," he panted, sitting up on his elbows. "You didn't have to do that." He pointed to her mouth.

She grinned. "I wanted to do that. I, I love you, Makoto." Her eyes widened when she saw his flaccid penis began to take height. Makoto quickly flipped them over, him hovering over her.

He began sucking her collarbone. "I love you too." He breathed, his hot breath giving Gou goosebumps. He lazily stuck out his tongue and trailed it down to the collar or her shirt. "Mind if I take these off for you?" He asked, smirking against her skin. She could only nod her head, mute from his kisses. Makoto raised her shirt over her head and threw it on the ground. He was pleased to find out that she had already taken off her bra. "Gou." He breathed her name, fanning it across her skin. "You're so beautiful. It's maddening." He stuck out his tongue and trailed it over her right mound, causing her to gasp. Makoto sucked her breast, twiddling her other one with his hand. He switched sides, making Gou pant out his name. He pulled back and started sliding down her shorts, revealing her underwear. He looked back up to Gou's face. "Do you still want to continue?"

Gou glanced at his face, her eyes glazing over with lust. "Yes. You can, Makoto."

He nodded, very gently taking off her underwear, revealing her womanhood before him. Makoto couldn't help but gasp, reveling the sight before him. "You are seriously beautiful." Gou squirmed under his gaze. He leaned forward and captured her lips with his. "I'm going to make you feel good, Gou." He slid down lower and started kissing her belly. He trailed his kisses all the way to the inside of her thighs, causing Gou to squirm again.

"Makoto, please." She pleaded. He took her command and began licking her in between her folds. Gou threw her head back in pleasure, feeling his warm muscle trail back and forth in between her lips. He went in deeper, flicking her clit while licking her juices. She lost it when he stuck in a finger. They both look up at each other, Gou blushing with embarrassment. "Um, it felt really good?" Makoto couldn't help but throw his head back in laughter.

"Gou, there's no need to apologize. I thought it was... Very cute." He crawled back up to hover above her face, lining his length to her womanhood. "Are you ready?"

"Oh, wait!" Gou said, sitting up and reaching over on her nightstand. She grabbed the condom and began unwrapping it. "We need a rubber first."

"A what?"

"A condom."

"What?"

"Augh, something that prevents me from having merbabies!" Gou exasperated, throwing her hands in the air. Makoto could only nod, his mouth forming an 'O' shape. Since Makoto was already on his knees, Gou slipped the condom on his penis. _Obviously, he doesn't know how to put it on so I'll do it for him. God, this is so awkward-I don't even know how to do it! Just think how you did it with a banana..._ Once the condom was firmly on his length, Makoto gently pushed Gou back down on her back and captured her lips. He pulled back and gazed into her eyes.

"Now are you ready?"

"Yes. Please be gentle, Makoto."

Gou felt the tip of his length begin to push through her womanhood, bits of pain etched on her face, throwing her head back on the pillow. Makoto pushed a little bit more, looking at Gou's face for any signs of trouble. One last push and Makoto's length was fully sheathed inside Gou. He waited on her command to start thrusting, giving her pecks on her cheeks and nose. Gou leaned her head back towards Makoto's face, giving him a warm smile.

"It's actually not too bad. Ah, you can move now, Makoto."

Makoto nodded in confirmation, pulling his length out and thrusting it back in Gou. He started picking up the pace, slamming into Gou, hearing his name breath out of her mouth with each thrust. The way she says it, rolling off her tongue, gives Makoto the boost of pleasure in his stride. He suddenly flipped her over on her side, holding her leg up high while he pounded into her. He closed his eyes and grunted, feeling his release coming real soon. A few more thrusts and he flipped her again on her stomach, holding on her hips, nearing his release with every moan she cried.

Gou was close to her own release, feeling her lower stomach clench in knots. She grabbed her pillow and covered her face, afraid she was going to scream when she was going to orgasm. Two hard thrusts from Makoto from behind released the knots she felt, feeling her orgasm with a face full of bliss. Makoto continued thrusting, riding out Gou's orgasm before he felt his release drawling near. With one last thrust, he leaned forward and groaned onto Gou's exposed back, feeling his orgasm reach a high.

He straightened up and pulled out of Gou, pulling off the used condom and throwing it in her waste basket near her bedside.

Gou was breathing slowly, curled up on her bed and sleep ready to take over. Makoto crawled over to her and pulled her against his chest, with her back facing him, breathing in her red hair. "I still can't believe I'm able to hold you." He said grinning with his eyes closed.

"I still can't believe we did this." She said, sighing in happiness.

"Before we go to bed, I think we should clean up, in case your mother or brother finds the 'evidence'."

Her eyes shot open in alarm. "You're right. I'll pick up our clothes and put it in the dirty clothes and I'll go get you a clean pair of clothes from Rin's room for you to sleep in." She got up from her bed quickly and went through her own drawers so she can put on a really long t-shirt over a pair of clean underwear. Her back was facing Makoto, unaware that the young orca was climbing out of the bed until she heard a loud thump from behind her. Startled, she whipped her head to look at Makoto. When she saw him, she couldn't help having a fit of giggles. Makoto was upside down, one leg hanging over her bed while his other leg was limply raised up over his head. He blushed, "I guess I'm not used to these human legs yet." He said, shrugging. When he did that gesture, his body slumped more down, causing him to hit his head on the carpet. That made Gou cackle, unable to control herself.

"W-what am I going to do with you, Ma-Makoto?" She said in between giggles.

He sighed, sliding further down on the ground. "I don't know, Gou. I just don't know." At that point, he couldn't help but laugh along with her.

The night ended for this young, awkward pair, laughing along side each until they faced a new day the next morning.


	9. Chapter 8

Hello everyone! Holy shit I'm so so so sorry that I'm updating now because I've been super busy at work. I work at the tuition payment office at a college and school started today and it was so freaking busy I couldn't work on anything! I couldn't even eat my gluten-free sandwich oh lorddd. And I still feel bad because it's a filler chapter and super lame omg but I hope to work on the next chapter this week! Hope you enjoy and thank you thank you thank you for reading and supporting this story! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Free! Iwatobi Swim Club/Eternal Summer.

* * *

Gou woke up to the sound of Makoto's breathing as he slept next to her, his arms wrapped around her small body and his newly formed legs tangled around her own. She couldn't help but stare at him, admiring his cute sleeping face inches away from hers. She had to stop herself from taking her hands and ride it up under his shirt, which is actually one of Rin's night shirts. _Gou, keep it together, don't touch the muscles. Don't touch them…_ She squeezed her eyes shut, mentally slapping herself from those thoughts. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. To her surprise, Makoto was beginning to wake up, opening one emerald eye. He blinked at Gou and broke out in a huge grin. "Good morning, Gou-chan."

Gou practically melted in his arms when he smiled warmly at her like that. She turned bright red and hid her face against his chest. "Uh, good morning, Makoto." She said, meekly.

Makoto couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction. "What, did I catch you off guard?" She nodded her head against his chest, causing Makoto to laugh more. "Sorry, you were just so cute, it made me really happy. Especially mating with you last night…" he said, lowering his voice huskily.

Gou groaned against his chest, making Makoto squirm a bit from her action. "Makoto, you don't say those kinds of things, it sounds so weird!" she said, leaning her head back to look up at him. Makoto stared in her eyes, gradually leaning closer to steal her lips—

BANG. "What the hell is going on here?!" Rin kicked opened Gou's bedroom door and stormed inside fuming. Both Makoto and Gou shot up in a sitting position, surprised from Rin's outburst.

"Onii-chan, it's not what it looks like, we were just sleeping! N-not what you're thinking, okay?" Gou said, stuttering.

Rin shot a glare at Makoto. "You. I know you just barely turned human and all that shit, but don't you dare touch my sister. Ever." He spat out with each word at Makoto's quivering form. "Uh, I can't really say get up because, well, you can't so Gou, you get up away from him." Gou was already standing up from the bed, arms behind her back. "Mom made breakfast." He grunted, turning back around and closing the door behind him. They can hear him grumble on the other side of the door, "Who said he can wear my clothes?!"

Gou looked over at Makoto. His face was twisted in fear, he had Gou's comforter bundled up in his hands and ready to shield himself. Gou couldn't help but crack out laughing from the sight, literally rolling on the floor.

"Gou?" Gou looked up from the floor to see Makoto leaning over the bed staring at her. "It wasn't that funny, he was serious!"

She covered her mouth from another round of giggles. "I know, I know, but you should've seen your face. Don't worry, my brother won't do anything and I'm pretty sure he still trusts you." She sat up. "Let's just never mentioned anyone that we, you know, done it. Okay?"

Makoto nodded furiously. "Yeah, I promise."

Gou stood up and held her hand out to him. "Okay, let's try and get you to my bathroom. You gotta get washed up to eat."

Makoto grabbed her hand and carefully stood up, wobbling on his heels. Gou grabbed his other hand. "Okay, looks like you're starting to get the hang of balancing, which is really good, now you just have to start moving your legs. Let's start walking slowly to my bathroom." She pointed with her head to the room next to her closet. "Don't worry, I have your hands."

Makoto took tentative steps forward, still wobbling back and forth but Gou's strength kept him in place, while she walked backwards with him. In the matter of minutes, Makoto and Gou reached her bathroom. Gou flipped the light switch on with her shoulder and led him to sit down on her toilet.

"Gou, this is where you sit in the bathroom?" Makoto asked looking at the toilet he was sitting on.

"That's where you use it, Makoto. Um, let's see, that is where you empty your waste from your body."

"Oh, I see. Yuck. Well, we just do it anywhere in the ocean, so ours is a lot more gross."

"Oh my god."

Gou had taken out an extra toothbrush she had in the bathroom and demonstrated what to do in front of Makoto. He was learning real quickly, though he shivered at the strange taste of mint in his mouth. After they were finished, Gou and Makoto began their trek out her room and down the stairs. She paused and turned towards the flight of stairs. "Onii-chan! Are you still here? I kind of need some help!"

"He's busy, but I'm here." She heard Sousuke's voice from around the corner downstairs.

"Oh thank goodness, Sousuke-kun." Sousuke walked up to where they were up the stairs and steadily grabbed Makoto's arm.

"Okay, let's go down very slowly. One step at a time." Sousuke instructed. From the help of Gou and Sousuke, Makoto was able to walk down the stairs not as wobbly as before. They led Makoto into the kitchen and sat him down at the table. Suddenly, Chigusa popped up around the corner, surprising Gou, while Sousuke helped Makoto sit down. She grabbed her by the shoulder and led her to a corner in private.

"Hey, I didn't know you were here!" Gou exclaimed. Chigusa giggled.

"Yeah, I came here early. I was going to wake you both but you guys look too adorable, so I let you sleep."

Gou blushed profusely. "Oh my god, you saw us?"

Chigusa fished out her phone from her pocket and showed a picture to Gou. "This was absolutely priceless." It was a snapshot of Makoto and Gou tangled up together asleep. Gou's face turned bright red, just as red as her hair.

"Ah, don't show anyone that!" She was about to storm off until she turned back to face Chigusa again. "Send that to me though, okay?"

Chigusa was having a chortling fit when Gou walked away to see how Makoto was, until her mom stopped her in her tracks. "Good morning, dear, I have breakfast for both you and Makoto. You both slept in so late, we already ate without you both." She led Gou to the table, placing food in front of Makoto and Gou. It was bacon, eggs, and toast; something that was not fish that Makoto normally had every day. He stared at it and looked over at Gou. Gou had already dug in her food, forgetting the fact that she was extremely hungry and not by herself in the room; she had bacon hanging from her mouth. She glanced at Makoto and swallowed her food.

"Whoops, sorry about that, Makoto, I was too hungry. Um, I don't necessarily know how to explain the food, but it's really good. Trust me." She picked up her fork. "This is a fork. You use this to pick up your food and bring it to your mouth. You're basically shoveling food in your mouth with this." She demonstrated, Makoto just staring in awe. "Now you try it."

Makoto looked back on his plate in front of him. He carefully picked up the fork and grabbed a little bit of eggs on it, leading it to his open mouth. He chewed slowly, surprised from the funny texture but paused. He quickly swallowed, grabbed a piece of bacon, and plopped it in his mouth. After swallowing it, he looked over at Gou with a face full of glee. "Human food is amazing." He stated, going back to finishing his food on his plate. Gou almost choked on a piece of bacon from his reaction. _I swear I need to film him doing everything. Anything he does is sooooo priceless._ Sousuke was sitting down across from Makoto, amused at the whole scene. As a marine biologist, or hope to be, Sousuke was definitely fascinated watching Makoto eat with a fork and such. But watching the exchanges between Makoto and Gou, the way they smiled at each other, struck a chord inside Sousuke. He didn't understand how something like that could tick him off. He shook off his feelings and looked to the side. He cleared his throat and stood up.

"Uh, I think Rin is outside, I'll go check on him." Sousuke said, walking towards the front door. Gou's mom and Chigusa were cleaning up in the kitchen, while Gou and Makoto finished up their breakfast. After they were done, Gou stood up from her spot and grabbed both her and Makoto's dishes.

"Thank you so much, mom! It was so good!" Gou gushed, handing her the dishes.

Makoto spoke up from his spot at the table. "Uh, thank you very much, Gou's mother."

"You are both very welcome. Honey, you can call me Matsuoka-san if you want." Gou's mom said, smiling over at Makoto.

"Ahh, yes ma'am. Um, Matsuoka-san."

The front door was opened and Rin and Sousuke walked inside. Makoto tensed up in his seat, causing Rin to notice. Rin smirked and swung his arm over his shoulders, causing Makoto to tense up more. "Makoto, I was just playing around with you. I'm just acting how a big brother should act, you know?"

Makoto calmed down and chuckled nervously. "Okay, yeah, I understand. I have two younger siblings as well, so I get it."

"Good, good. Now that everyone is situated, let's head over to the cove to tell the news to your friends."

Gou piped up. "I thought we can't have Makoto to be seen."

"I did some damage control." Sousuke said. "I had those Mikoshiba brothers stall for us and made it seem like they're guarding the place where Makoto was in while my dad is away for a week. Once he comes back though…"

"It's okay, we'll figure it out. Thank you so much, Sousuke-kun. It really means a lot." Gou said, patting his shoulder.

He cracked a smile. "You're welcome."

"Alright, let's get Makoto dressed in normal clothes and we'll head on to the cove."

An hour passed with Rin and Sousuke struggling to drag Makoto up the stairs, put Rin's clothes on him, and then drag him back down the stairs.

Rin was huffing. "How did you put on my night clothes last night?"

Makoto stiffened. "Uh…I'm not even sure, I guess it wasn't that hard?" _I'm not telling him that Gou helped me!_

"He was wearing shorts, these are jeans, Rin." Sousuke stated, causing Rin to nod in understanding. Makoto relaxed, relieved that he understood.

Sousuke, Rin, Chigusa, Gou, and Makoto piled in Sousuke's car and starting heading towards the beach. Makoto, now wide awake than he was yesterday, was amazed at the contraption he was riding in. He was sitting next to the window, with Gou in the middle and Chigusa on the other side of her. Makoto couldn't help but press up against the window, his eyes glimmering with wonder and delight. Gou still scolded herself for not having a camera with her to take these moments that Makoto does. But she couldn't stop smiling; being with him was enough for her.

Minutes passed and the gang reached the beach, already walking towards the cove. Makoto was getting the hang of walking, but Gou was right at his side in case he wobbled. She made sure to have her arm locked with his and walked with a steady pace at his side. Once they reached the cove, Makoto and Gou stood close to the shallow waves and did the special whistle together. Chigusa, Rin, and Sousuke watched them from behind, staring at the ocean for movement. Seconds later, Nagisa's blond hair popped out of the ocean, locking his magenta eyes on Makoto. His eyes grew wide and he began racing towards the shore, with Haru and Rei in tow.

"Makoto! Is that you?!" Nagisa shouted, towering over Makoto and Gou.

Gou couldn't help but giggle while Nagisa poked all around Makoto, probing him with his finger. "Stop it, Nagisa that tickles. Yes, it's me. I'm, well, human." Makoto whined, shooing Nagisa's finger away. Before Nagisa could tease him anymore, he paused and sniffed around him. His face turned into a sly grin.

"I see you mated already, Makoto." Nagisa said, his eyebrows wiggling.

Makoto and Gou's face dropped when Nagisa said that. It turned silent at the cove, the waves moving while everyone stood in shock. It wasn't until Rin and Sousuke that cut the silence.

"THEY DID WHAT?!" The two shouted, knocking down Makoto in water from surprise.

Gou looked back and stared at the wrath of her brother and surprisingly Sousuke. She couldn't help but mutter, "Shit."


	10. Chapter 9

Hello everyone!

Anyways, sorry it took so long to update, it's been crazy busy at my job. I'm such a horrible person for posting this lame filler chapter, I hope to update quickly oh lord.

Again, thank you to everyone that has been reading and supporting this fic, it's honestly incredible. I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Free! Iwatobi Swim Club/Eternal Summer.

* * *

"Gou, you better have some explaining to do!"

Gou cringed from Rin's yelling, stepping a couple steps back in the shallow water. Makoto had already cowered behind Gou, grasping her shoulders out of fright.

"Onii-chan, I can explain. Just calm down."

"Calm down? Calm down?! How in the hell am I supposed to calm down after finding out that you both... AUGH!" Rin said, shaking his head, refraining himself from finishing that sentence. Sousuke had a hand clamped on Rin's shoulder so he wouldn't go after Makoto, but he was still giving him a death glare from a distance.

Gou's anger was starting to hit a boiling point. Rin kept jabbing about the subject, causing Gou to quickly snap.

"Alright! Okay, onii-chan. I had sex with Makoto. Happy? We were safe! I made sure he wore a condom! I'm not dealing with this, okay? I love him, Rin. I love Makoto. You can't act like this because you left for five years. Five years! You can't just come back all of a sudden and start acting like an older brother! Just...get off my back!" Gou screamed, fire blazing in her eyes.

Rin could only stand there, gawking at Gou. Her outburst surprised him; he didn't know how to react from that. His face twisted into worry, he didn't realize he hurt Gou this much. "Gou, I, I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry." He took a step a back, only to be stopped by Sousuke.

"It's whatever, onii-chan. I'm gonna go swimming with Makoto. You can hang out here or whatever. See you later." She grabbed Makoto's hand and led him to the water. She paused and turned back around, dragging Makoto with her. "I just realized we don't have swimsuits on, so we're just gonna walk down the shore." She said, raising her head held high. Gou didn't want to lose her pride over something awkward like that, so she kept her head straight up and dragged Makoto down the shore. He could only oblige since he's not use to walking yet.

The gang stared at them walking away. Chigusa shrugged her shoulders. "Oh well, let them be. I remembered my swimsuit, so Rei-san do you want to practice swimming with me?"

Rei's eyes went wide. "Oh, yes! Of course, Chigusa-san! I, uh, I can definitely help you!" Rei stammered out. He held his hand out for Chigusa to crawl on. He brought her up on his back, having her climb and hang over his shoulder.

"We'll see you guys later!" She said, waving at the gang. Rei then turned around and led Chigusa away from the shore.

Rin and Sousuke watched the two leave. "Tch." Rin clicked his tongue. He turned towards Haru, who was lazily floating I'm the ocean. "Yo, Haru. Race with me in the water, I need to let some steam off." He dived next to Haru and took off. Haru's eyes glimmered when he treaded the water after Rin.

The only two left was Sousuke and Nagisa. Nagisa crossed his arms and pouted. "No fair, everyone's having fun without me."

Sousuke looked over at Nagisa flailing in the water. He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not exactly that fun but we can talk? I actually want to ask some questions about you, I'm hoping to be a marine biologist."

"A what?"

"Uh, nevermind. But can I ask you some questions?"

Nagisa's eyes lit up. "Me?"

"Of course." Sousuke chuckled.

"Oh yes!" Nagisa pumped his arm in the air. "Yes! Ask me anything! I can't believe you want to talk to meeeeee. I'm so happy." Sousuke pulled out a little notebook and pen out of his pocket and sat cross-legged in front of Nagisa, who was lounging on his stomach, his hands propped up to hold his head and his tail fin swaying back and forth eagerly.

Sousuke grinned. "Alright, let's get started."

* * *

"Can you believe him?! Acting all high and mighty ever since he came back from Australia. He is not in charge of my life!" Gou ranted, sitting on a rock at the edge of the cove. Makoto was beneath her, lying on his back on the ground, trying to catch his breath. So much walking really put a tire on him, especially with a furious Gou dragging him the whole way.

"Gou." He breathed out, opening his eyes to look up at her. "Just let it go."

"Let it go? How can I let it go?! He can't act that way towards you, you know. Ugh, this really pisses me off!"

Makoto reached an arm up and grabbed her foot and pulled her down on the ground with him. Startled, Gou landed ungracefully on Makoto's chest. "Geez, what was that for?" she said, staring up at him.

"You need to calm down and think about what Rin is going through as well. I'm a big brother too, you know? I actually might have acted that way if it came to my younger sister Ran. He got caught up in the moment and was saying things he didn't mean. You probably did as well too." He stroked her crimson hair, fixing stray ones behind her ear. "Both of you need to cool down and then talk it out later."

Gou's cheeks tinted pink from Makoto's words and how he petted her hair. She planted her face on his chest to hide from him. Makoto couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction, so he continued to stroke her hair back and forth.

"Feel better?"

"Mmm, yes, thank you." Gou mumbled against his chest. He could feel her relax on his chest, her tension leaving her body instantly. He glided his free arm to trail the line on her back, feeling it beneath her shirt she wore. It was silent, both of them enjoying each other's presences.

* * *

"Chigusa-san, you are really getting the hang of this." Rei praised, hovering his hand over Chigusa's body while she kicked back and forth in the water. He was really proud at how fast she was progressing.

Chigusa slowed down her movements and faced Rei. "Yeah! It's all thanks to you, Rei-kun!" she said, smiling up at him.

Her gesture caused his heart to beat rapidly. He adjusted his goggles nervously saying, "Uh, no-no problem, Chigusa-san. It's my-my pleasure."

Chigusa giggled at Rei. _He can be really adorable, especially when he plays with his goggles like that because he's nervous. Wait, do I make him nervous? No, that can't be, he's just really shy._

Rei continued to teach Chigusa in the water, although a lingering thought kept repeating in his head. _I think I want to become human, like Makoto-san. I want to learn more about humans and…Chigusa-san as well. I need to talk to Makoto-san soon._

* * *

Rin and Haru were head to head in the water, racing each other back and forth. Haru was surprised of how fast Rin caught up to him, especially since he's a human. _How can someone so small catch up with me?_ He slowed down in the water, eventually stopping to gaze at Rin. Rin noticed a lack of presence beside him, considering how huge Haru is compared to himself. He looked back to see Haru staring at him from a far. He turned himself around and paddled back towards Haru.

"Is something wrong, Haru?" Rin questioned.

Haru immediately glanced away to the side. "It's nothing."

"It doesn't seem like nothing."

"You swim fast for a human."

Rin leaned back, surprised by Haru's blunt response. He smirked. "Well, I hope I am. I am training to become an Olympian, you know."

Haru's eyes trailed back to Rin. "Makoto mentioned something about that. A sort of competitive thing. Humans do that?"

"Yeah, just to be the best overall in the world and get these medals…it's been my dream for a while now."

"That sounds…nice."

Rin chuckled. "Yeah, it really is. Come on, let's do a few more rounds and then call it a day."

"Sure."

Before the two of them could take off, Haru had a quick thought that stopped him in his tracks.

"When we get back, apologize to Makoto."

Rin looked over his shoulder at Haru. "What? I…"

"You know you said bad things back there." Haru stated. "And he's my best friend; you can't say things like that to him and leave it. Also apologize to Gou-san."

Rin was shocked of how much Haru was talking today but he didn't let it show. "Fine, I shouldn't have done that. I'll do it when we get back."

"Good." Haru swam up and patted Rin's head gently before taking off in the water.

Rin was stunned from Haru's gesture; though he wasted no time racing after him, a pink tint flushed on his cheeks.

* * *

"That may be all I needed to know. Thank you for your help, Nagisa." Sousuke said, placing his notebook back in his pocket and giving him a little bow with his head.

"Oh, no worries! It's my pleasure! I love talking about myself." Nagisa gloated. "But can I ask you a question, Sou-chan?"

Sousuke mentally winced at his new nickname, but shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, go ahead."

"How come you got mad at Gou-chan like Rin-chan?"

Sousuke was taken aback by that question. "Uh, well, I've known Gou ever since she was young, so she had always been like a little sister to me."

Nagisa tapped his chin. "Hmm, that makes sense, you just reminded me of how Mako-chan acted sometimes when it came to Gou-chan. I'm probably mixing this all up, she's like a little sister to you is all."

Sousuke nervously chuckled. "Yeah, that's all."

Nagisa grinned at his answer. "Oh! I think I hear the others coming back!" he glanced behind him, waving after Rei and Chigusa. Once they reached the shore, Rei gently placed Chigusa next to Sousuke. "Aww, I wanted to help you swim as well, Chigusa-chan. How was it though?"

"It was great! I've learned so much from Rei-kun, I think I'll be swimming by myself in no time!" she said cheerfully. She looked over at Rei but notice his face had become solemn. "Rei-kun, is something wrong?"

Startled, Rei waved his hands in front of him. "Oh, it's nothing! I'm okay!"

"Rei-chan, I know you well enough. What's wrong?" Nagisa said, coming up to Rei to pinch his cheeks.

"Augh, Nagisa-kun, stop! Okay, I've just been thinking that I want to become…a human as well…" Rei said, looking over to the side.

Nagisa's eyes grew wide. "Is that what you really want, Rei-chan?"

Rei looked at Nagisa then he locked eyes with Chigusa. "Yes, I really do."

Chigusa cheeks blushed red. "Ah, Sousuke-san, are you able to do something about that?" she asked.

Sousuke glanced over at Rei. "You know, we had to turn Makoto into a human because of dangerous circumstances, he hasn't decided yet if he wants to permanently stay as he is now. But, I'll let my friend Nitori know, he's the one that made the potion. Are you positive that you want to become one?"

Rei straightened up in the water. "Yes! Please, I really do. I, I never really fit in with all the other merfolk in the ocean, besides my friends Nagisa-kun, Makoto-san, and Haru-san. I don't even know what I'm going to do when I reach the age next year to go my own. My parents and sibling hardly take notice of me anymore, saying I'm a disgrace as a merman for loving calculations and for not knowing how to swim when I grew up. I've made my decision; I want to become a human, please."

Sousuke grinned up at Rei. "Okay. I'll let him know soon."

Nagisa latched onto Rei, squeezing him. "Rei-chan, I'm gonna miss you so much! You better visit me every time. Are you going to tell your parents tonight?"

Rei adjusted his goggles again. "Uh, I'm just going to tell him I'm leaving, I don't want to mention anything about humans to them. It's okay."

Chigusa cheered from the ground. "You go, Rei-kun! I'm so proud of you!"

Rei nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh, thank you, Chigusa-chan."

"Oh, I see Mako-chan and Gou-chan!" Nagisa hollered, waving frantically. Gou and Makoto were walking back to the group, hand in hand. After they rested a bit, Makoto had more energy to start walking again, shocking Gou. "Mako-chan! Rei has a surprise!"

"A surprise? What do you mean, Rei?" Makoto inquired, once they were close enough to the group.

"Oh, it's just that I want to become human is all." Rei said, twiddling his thumbs.

"What do you mean, that's all? That's great, Rei!" Makoto said, coming up to Rei in the water to pat his hand. "This is what you want to do from now on?"

"Yes, I've made my decision and I'm sticking with it." Rei grinned, his goggles sparkling from his demeanor.

"What decision?" The group looked over at the sudden voice. It was Haru with Rin floating next to him.

"Hey you two. Rei decided that he wanted to become human." Makoto said, smiling over at Rin and Haru.

"Well. Water-chan is offended." Haru stated, glaring at Rei before diving in the water back home.

"Uh, don't mind him, Rei. He doesn't mean it. Plus, that's his way of missing you." Makoto chuckled.

"What a weird way of showing it." Gou whispered, causing Makoto to pat her head to hush her. She looked over at Rin, who was coming out of the water and heading towards her. He paused in front of Makoto and Gou, looking back and forth between them.

"I just wanted to say that I shouldn't have lashed out at both you guys, especially you Gou. I was completely in the wrong and I shouldn't have said anything bad. Makoto, I really am sorry, you are honestly a really good...guy and have protected my sister. For that, thank you again. Gou, I hope you can forgive me."

Gou stared up at Rin with tear-filled eyes and choked up a sob. She ran into him, throwing her arms around his neck. "Onii-chan! Of-of course I forgive you. I'm sorry for saying those things too." Rin wrapped his arms around her, hugging her back.

"It's okay, Gou. It's okay." he said, rubbing her back while she sobbed against his chest. He rested his head on her shoulder and grinned. He looked over at Makoto. "Come on, join in Makoto. You deserve it."

"Uh, are you sure?" Makoto hesitantly asked.

Gou pulled back from Rin and the siblings outstretched their arms to invite him in the hug. "Yes, Makoto, it's okay." Gou said gently, wiping her eyes with her hand. He happily obliged, hugging the siblings with eagerness and relief. He was content that they have made up and that Rin wasn't mad at him anymore.

"Just as long as you guys use protection." Rin whispered to the two during the hug fest.

Gou pulled back and smacked Rin's shoulder. "Ugh, Rin, stop!" Her mouth twitched up in a mischievous grin when she thought of her revenge. Gou wiped her nose on her arm and used said arm to wipe on Rin's face.

"Eww! Gou, I'm gonna kill you!" Rin screeched, beginning to chase after Gou on the shore. Makoto could only shake his head at the two.

While the siblings were chasing each other, Sousuke felt a vibration in his pocket. He pulled out his cell phone, curious to see who was calling. It was Nitori. "Hey, Nitori, how's it going?"

"Everything is going real well, Sousuke, I wanted to let you know that the permanent potion should be finished by the end of this week. It might be sooner, actually." Nitori said. Sousuke could hear glasses clacking around in the background, assuming Nitori was still working in his lab.

"About that, can the potion can be used for two participants?"

"Um, it should be enough for two, why do you ask?"

"I'll tell you later. Thank you so much, Nitori."

"No problem, Sousuke. It's my pleasure." Ai said before hanging up.

When Sousuke was going to put his phone back in his pocket, he felt another vibration from his phone. He answered it, forgetting to look at the caller ID. "Something wrong, N-"

"Hello, son." Sousuke flinched at the deep voice on the other line on the phone.

"F-father."

"What's wrong, son? Cat got your tongue? Better yet, killer whale got your tongue?"

* * *

Was that a lame joke? Wasn't it? EVERYTHING I WROTE IS LAME I'M SO SORRY OKAY BYE


	11. Chapter 10

Heyyyyyyyyy everyone! I thought I was going to write the climax in this chapter but then I'm like nooo it's still a filler chapter ugh I'm so sorry. So, I really do hope you enjoy this chapter. I'll update soon! I'm trying to update as quickly as I can before I start school in October.

Did y'all cry at yesterday's episode? Because I did omg. I was already having a bad day as it is and I'm like ohh, lemme cheer myself up with a new episode of Free omg my babies and I watched it and I'm like WHYYYYYY. I was at work too. So dumb ugh.

Anyways, thank y'all so so soooo much for reading this story still. :D

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Free! Iwatobi Swim Club/Eternal Summer

P.S. omg you guys, I got the Iwatobi swim jacket and I feel so cooooool. Okay bye haha.

* * *

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Sousuke said, making himself more discreet, peeking over his shoulder to see everyone else enjoying their selves.

"Cut the crap, son. I'm not an idiot. I had my men check around for me and those Mikoshiba brothers weren't exactly reliable either. Where is it?"

"What?" Sousuke drawled.

"You know what I'm talking about. My specimen!"

"He has a name."

"Please son, where did you suddenly think you could stand up to me? That is my specimen and I want it back."

"You don't even know where he is!" Sousuke stated, trying to calm his uneven tone.

"If that's how you want it, fine. But I'll get it back, even if I take drastic measures. Enjoy the rest of the week. Also, consider yourself cut out from the family, son." With that, Sousuke heard the line cut off. He turned towards the group worriedly.

"Guys, I think it's time for us to head back home."

Rin noticed Sousuke's demeanor. "Something's wrong. What happened, Sousuke?"

Sousuke looked down at the ground. "My father knows about Makoto."

Gou's face dropped. "How?! He's not coming right now, is he?" She grabbed Makoto's arm protectively.

"No, he's not coming now to get him. But he knows that we took him out. We need to get home though, just in case." Sousuke said, already turning around to leave the cove. He suddenly turned back around. "Rei, the potion is almost done. So hang tight for a little bit and also be safe. I don't know what my father has planned."

Rei nodded his head. "Got it, thank you very much, Sousuke-san." He waved at the others before diving back in the water, with Nagisa right behind him.

"Alright, let's go." Gou said, holding onto Makoto's arm to help guide him. He was learning really quickly, despite having occasional slip-ups that accidentally causes Gou to lose her balance. Rin threw an arm over Makoto's shoulder to help quicken the pace back to the car. Once they made it, everyone hopped in and Sousuke drove back home.

After Sousuke dropped off Chigusa at her house, he drove over to Rin and Gou's house. Rin looked over his shoulder at Makoto and Gou in the back and then rolled his eyes at the sight. He turned back towards the windshield and crossed his arms, grumbling in his seat. "They need to get a room."

Sousuke raised an eyebrow and looked at the two in his rearview mirror. Despite being a little bothered by the closeness of the two, he couldn't help but smile sincerely because of it. Makoto and Gou were laid back, Gou resting her head on Makoto's shoulder while he rested his on top of her head, their hands laced together in their lap. He led his eyes back towards the road, trying to shake his thoughts away. He didn't understand why he was bothered a bit by it, maybe because he sees Gou as a little sister to him. She's grown a lot in the last five years; she's not the young girl he once knew. She's also got a lot more pretty; she's matured in a lot of ways—_No. You cannot think about that, Sousuke. She is, and will always be, a little sister to you. Don't-don't think like that. _

After a few minutes, Sousuke pulled up to the Matsuoka home. Rin turned around in his seat to wake up the two. "Gou, Makoto, we're home. Actually, I'm gonna hang with Sousuke for the rest of the night and probably crash at his place." Rin looked between the two with a glare. "Don't do anymore funny business. I'll tell mom."

Gou rolled her eyes and yawned. "Onii-chan, I don't want to hear it. Besides, we're too tired and completely worried to do anything."

Sousuke looked over his shoulder. "Don't worry you two. We're going to figure out a plan tomorrow, okay? Just hang tight and don't leave the house."

Makoto and Gou nodded their heads. The two climbed out of the car, waved goodnight at Rin and Sousuke, and headed on inside the house. "Mom! Makoto and I are home! Rin's staying over at Sousuke's." Gou called out, taking off her shoes and bending down to help Makoto to take off his.

"Thanks a lot, Gou. I think I can get used to it now." Makoto said, scratching the back of his head nervously.

"Whoops, sorry Makoto. I couldn't help it!" she giggled, walking towards the kitchen counter, Makoto right behind her. "Oh, my mom left a note! It says she left dinner in the oven and she won't be back until later on tonight, probably when we're asleep." Gou opened the oven and laughed. She looked over at Makoto's confused face. "She made us pizza! My favorite!" she grabbed a pair of oven mitts to take out the pizza, placed it on the stove, and reached over in the cabinet to grab a couple of plates. Makoto stood by the counter, watching in awe of how fast Gou was going around the kitchen and grabbing things she needed. Then he sniffed the smell of the pizza, causing his stomach to rumble and his mouth to drool. Gou had everything gathered in her hands and headed over to the living room, causing Makoto to do a double-take.

"Uh, Gou? I thought when humans eat meals, they eat it at the table or something like that."

She placed the food on the coffee table and made herself comfortable before reaching out for her plate. "Oh, Makoto. We don't do that all the time. We can eat anywhere, as long we're not extremely messy." She patted the spot next to her on the couch. "Come on, sit and eat."

Makoto hesitantly strolled over to the couch and carefully sat down on the cushion. He grabbed his plate and looked down at the contents on there. Then he looked back up over at Gou to watch how she ate. She was already on her second piece, stuffing a big bite in her mouth. She noticed Makoto's staring so she glanced over at him, her cheeks turning red. She quickly swallowed what she had in her mouth.

"Uh. Sorry. When I'm hungry, I just dig in. Okay, you eat your pizza with your hand like this." She demonstrated, taking a bite of her pizza slowly.

Makoto chuckled at her demonstration, but turned back towards his pizza and picked up a slice. He carefully took a small bite of the pizza and chewed. His face suddenly turned into bliss when he swallowed, not realizing he had a string of cheese hanging from his mouth. He looked over at Gou with a face full of pure innocence. "This. Is. The. Best." He uttered word for word.

Gou leaned back to cover her face. "Makoto, oh my god, don't move a muscle, I'm going to be right back, I need to get my camera!" She got up from the couch and dashed away to get her phone. Once she grabbed it, she ran back towards a frozen Makoto to snap pictures of him.

"Gou? Can I move now? I kinda want to eat." Makoto asked, his eyebrows furrowed in worry and anticipation.

"Hold on, one more shot like this." Gou said, sticking her tongue out in concentration to take another shot. "Okay, you can eat."

Makoto eagerly complied, digging into his pizza. Gou continued taking pictures of him, giggling at all the faces Makoto made. Once the two were finished and Gou cleaned up, she sat back down on the couch and cuddled next to a stuffed Makoto. He ended up eating four more slices because he thought that he'll never have it again, much to Gou's dismay. Makoto looked down at Gou for a while. "Gou, what were you doing with that…device?"

Gou looked over at Makoto and brought her phone out. "This is a cell phone. It's used for lots of things, especially for talking to people that are not here and they are somewhere else. You can also take pictures or record footage of things, like anything. Here, this is you." She flicked over to one picture of him eating the pizza and showed it to him. His eyes widened in wonder and grabbed her phone.

"This is me?!" He questioned, incredulously. "Is this what I look like?"

Gou tilted her head at him. "You don't know what you look like?"

Makoto glanced to the side nervously. "Uh, when I knew that fisherman, he used to show me a thing called a mirror. That was back when I was younger, I've matured since then. Ever since the fisherman's death, I tried not to look at my reflection too much. It reminded me that I was a mon—"

Gou hushed him with a tender kiss on his cheek. "Don't say it. Don't you dare say that again." She patted his head. "Now, let's brighten up the mood here. Smile for me!" she brought up her phone to take a picture of the two. He obliged, but only stayed looking at her. "Ah, Makoto! You didn't face the camera!"

He laughed. "But you said to smile for you, so I did! Besides, I don't know what I'm looking at."

After ten attempts, Gou finally got the picture she wanted. She leaned back in content, smiling like an idiot. Makoto copied her and leaned his head on top of hers. She snuggled up against him and heaved a sigh. "I love you, Makoto. And I'll always protect you no matter what." Gou closed her eyes, feeling sleep takeover her.

Makoto smiled gently and pulled her closer. "Same with me, as well. I'll protect you." He breathed in her scent. "That's a promise."

* * *

By the time that Gou's mom made it back home, it was past one o'clock in the morning. Her job had a special charity event and she was part of the coordinators of the event. She opened the front door and stifled a yawn, taking off her shoes at the front door. "Ah, I'm home." She said to no one in particular. She noticed that the light was still on in the living room. She walked to the area and smiled at the sight before her. Makoto and Gou were sleeping on the couch, wrapped around each other like they never wanted to let go. She swallowed a chortle and then sped walked over to the supply closet to pull out an extra blanket. She brought it back to the couch and covered the two. "Goodnight, you two." She mouthed, tiptoeing away to her room for the night.

* * *

"I thought I said no funny business!" Rin exasperated, smacking his hand on both of Makoto and Gou's head. That furiously woke them up.

It was morning and Rin and Sousuke had already rushed over to the house to explain their plan. But once they entered the house, they were greeted by the lovely sight of the two on the couch. Rin choked on his spit when he saw that, anger already building up inside of him.

"Geez! Why did you do that, onii-chan!" Gou yelled, holding her injured head, Makoto following suit with holding his head in his hands as well.

"Good, now that both you are awake, let's get down to the plan." Rin looked over at Makoto. "Have you decided?"

"Decided what?" Makoto inquired, rubbing his head gently.

"If you wanted to stay human or not."

Makoto looked between Gou and Rin and Sousuke. Then he glanced down in his lap. "Yes." He raised his head and looked at Rin in determination. "I decided I wanted to stay human."

Sousuke nodded his head at him. "Okay. Nitori should be done with the potion very soon. In the meantime, we need to lay low and—" Sousuke was interrupted from a buzz coming from his pocket. He pulled out his phone and looked to see who it was from. It was picture message from his father. He opened it up and gasped at the picture.

"What is it, Sousuke?" Rin immediately asked. Sousuke showed the picture to Rin, Makoto, and Gou. Makoto gasped, tears already forming in his eyes.

"Why does he have my brother and sister?!" He screamed, grabbing Sousuke's shoulders. "We need to save them!"

_This is what he probably meant when he said drastic measures. _Sousuke furrowed his eyebrows and clicked his tongue in fury.

* * *

**So, I honestly wanted to end this chapter when Makoto and Gou fell asleep on the couch and then I'm like, nahhhh, let's continue keeping cliff-hangers. Because that's the best.**

**Haha, don't kill me.**


	12. Chapter 11

**Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't posted awhile, I've been super busy. First things first; I am totally not going to give up on this story! I just wanted to reassure y'all. Second, don't go to the Art Institute. Just don't. They almost ripped me off, so I'm just warning y'all about them! It sucks, because that seriously was my dream school and I was so excited to start school there. Oh well. Moving on... Thank you so freaking much for reading this fic, it seriously makes me happy. I hope you like this chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Free! Iwatobi Swim Club/Eternal Summer.**

**P.s. Who else cried at the end of Free!? I cried like a baby oh lord.**

* * *

"Where are they? We have to get them!" Makoto continuously shook Sousuke's shoulders, fear etched in his eyes and his voice wavering.

Sousuke grabbed a hold of Makoto's arms and calmly released his hands from his shoulders. "Makoto. We will find them. Calm down so we can all think rationally."

Makoto lowered his head and slumped his shoulders. Gou hooked her arm around his left arm, using her free hand to rub his arm soothingly. "Don't worry, we will save your brother and sister, Makoto." Gou whispered, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

He solemnly glanced at Gou, staring into her crimson eyes before nodding in agreement.

Sousuke looked closely at the picture to figure out clues. The twins were bound-tied together in what looks to be about a tank, their eyes pleading with desperation. Sousuke suddenly recognized that the tank that they are in isn't from the lab where he usually goes to, the lab that Makoto was caged in not too long ago. Sousuke squeezed his eyes shut after realization hit him. He took a deep breath before opening his eyes and peered between Makoto, Gou, and Rin. "They're in Tokyo. My father took them to his original lab in Tokyo."

"Let's go right now. We have to get them out now." Rin responded.

Sousuke nodded. "Right, let's go. But once we arrive in Tokyo, we can't take charge yet."

Gou pouted. "Why not? We have to get them out of there as soon as possible!"

Sousuke shook his head. "We need to think of a plan, a strategy if you will. It will be too obvious to take charge to get them out, my father will definitely have something up his sleeve. I know it's hard to hear this, especially you Makoto, but we need to be patient and think of a way to safely get your siblings out."

Makoto nodded, his eyebrows scrunched together. "You're absolutely right, Sousuke-san. Even though it's tearing me up inside, we need to figure out a safe way to get them out."

Gou refrained herself from blurting out. She wanted to get Ren and Ran out of there as soon as possible.

"Let's get ready to leave to Tokyo. I'll go and tell my mom." Rin announced, heading out of the room.

Gou stood up from the couch, stretching her limbs. "I guess I'll wash up and pack an overnight bag, I won't be too long. I'll also grab a shirt and pants from Rin for you." Gou said, facing Makoto. She left him and Sousuke in the living room.

Makoto sighed, leaning back on the couch. "I didn't think I could feel stressed. I thought humans only experienced that."

Sousuke took a seat next to him on the couch, clasping a hand on his shoulder. "Every living thing experiences all sorts of emotions. Don't worry, Makoto. We'll get them out safe and sound."

Makoto peeked at Sousuke from the side of his eye. "Thank you, Sousuke-san. For everything."

Sousuke couldn't help but grin. "It's no problem, Makoto. I feel like I needed to help out because of what I did before. I am still sorry for that, really I am."

Makoto twisted his head to look at Sousuke. "It's okay, I honestly forgive you. I also understand that it isn't your fault at all. It was because of your father. If you don't mind me asking, how come he started doing this?"

Sousuke glanced at Makoto's face before turning back to look at his lap, his teal eyes lost in thought. "It's a long story but I'll shorten it as much as I can." Sousuke took a deep breath. "My father was never like this in the beginning. When I was younger, he was an idol to me. I looked up to him so much. His passion was in marine biology and he loved studying and learning about different species, especially whales. I remember when we used to go on boat trips in the ocean to watch different mammals pass by us, it was amazing for a young kid like me. Once we moved to Tokyo, everything started changing. It was a new change for me, my mom, and my dad. Especially my dad. He became irritable with the new job at an aquatic park and lab, he also hardly came home. But on one boat trip, he happened to see an orca that was different from the others. It was actually a little mer-orca, talking to an old fisherman in the middle of the ocean. My father was watching the scene from a distance, only using his binoculars. From then on, he became obsessed about studying mer-orcas and merpeople. He worked hard for years to have his own lab just so he can study about merpeople; even it means to put them in captivity. I believe ever since then, he just snapped. He is not the father I once knew. The father that gave me the passion of wanting to become a marine biologist. I wanted to learn as much as I can from my father, even if it cost me to forget about my sanity."

Makoto just gaped at Sousuke when listening to the story. "That", he started. "That young mer-orca was me."

Sousuke's eyes widened. "Seriously? That was you?"

Makoto nodded. "Yes, that old fisherman taught me everything. There's not a lot of my kind and I know for a fact that I'm the only one of my species that spoke to human."

"Whoa. Such a small world, we're living in, huh?" Sousuke chuckled, softly punching Makoto's shoulder, startling him.

"Heh, yeah. It appears so." Makoto joined in laughing, rubbing the spot Sousuke hit.

The two were cut off when Rin entered the room. "Alright, I talked with my mom about the situation and let her know that we were leaving now. Where's Gou?"

"She said that she was washing up and she was going to pack an overnight bag." Sousuke replied.

"Don't you think it's been a while?" Makoto asked.

"I know Gou and she normally is pretty fast when getting dressed." Rin said, scratching his head.

"Uh, I'll go and check on her." Makoto said, getting up from the couch, wobbly at first, and headed up the stairs. Once he reached her room, he noticed her door was closed. "Um, what do humans do again…?" Makoto wondered out loud. He faced his palm forward and slapped the door. "No, that's not right." He made a fist and then knocked on the door once. "That's what it was…" He knocked three more time and called her name. Puzzled, Makoto grabbed the doorknob and twisted it, noticing it was unlocked the whole time. He opened the door slowly. "Gou, are you ready? Gou—"He paused. Gou's room was empty and her window was wide open. "Rin-san! Sousuke-san! Gou's not in here!" Makoto hollered, panicking. He checked her bathroom but it was empty as well. Makoto heard footsteps running up the stairs and then Rin and Sousuke came in the room.

"She's not here?" Rin said, eyebrows furrowed in frustration. They looked around the room and Rin checked out the window.

"Guys, look." Sousuke pointed out, holding a note in front of him. "This was on her desk."

Rin grabbed it and read it out loud. "'Everyone, I couldn't just sit here and wait patiently to go help the twins. I put the matter in my hands and I'm heading over there myself. Once you read this letter, I'm pretty sure I caught the next train to Tokyo. I'm a fast runner, thanks to years in track, so I'm probably on it right now. I'm sorry, everyone, especially to you Makoto. I'm sorry. I just couldn't wait.'" Rin crumbled the note in his fist. "Ugh, how could I not known she would do this?! Come on, we got to go now!" Rin was already out of Gou's room and heading down stairs.

Sousuke glanced over at Makoto, he was staring at the ground trembling. Sousuke walked over and clasped a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Makoto, there's no time worry. We have to get there soon. You need to focus."

Makoto slowly lifted his gaze to meet Sousuke's eyes. He then nodded furiously, determination set in his eyes. "Right! I, uh, need to focus!"

Sousuke curved his lips in a genuine smile. "Good. Before we leave to Tokyo, we need to stop somewhere first."

* * *

"God, I'm so glad I went on a school trip a few years back to the park Sousuke's dad used to work at in Tokyo, otherwise I'd be screwed." Gou said to herself, slumping in her seat on the empty bullet train ride to Tokyo. "I hope the guys aren't too mad at me."

"Next stop: Shinjuku, Tokyo." The overhead speaker announced. Gou sighed and took a glimpse out the window. It was already starting to get dark, the outside passing by in milliseconds. "I'm so stupid; I didn't even think how I was going to get inside. Ugh, keep it together, Gou. You're a Matsuoka. We do not give up!"

Once the train arrived on the platform, Gou rushed out the opening doors and headed towards to aquatic park/lab. She smiled to herself, proud that she can run this fast. Minutes pass and she's standing outside the now closed park. She quickly caught her breath and ran around the side of the building. She crept towards the back until she was startled by a backdoor opening up. Gou jumped in a bush and watched who was coming out the door while hidden. She noticed it was one of those red-haired brothers that helped them before. It looked like the youngest brother.

He stretched his arms over his head. "Ugh, I want to go back home. Dr. Yamazaki is too much!" Momo whined to himself. He kicked the ground before waltzing back inside. "At least I get paid a lot." He swung the door shut, forgetting to lock it.

"Jackpot." Gou whispered to herself. She stood up from her hiding spot and rushed to the door. She carefully opened the door, looking around but only noticed that she was in a dark-lit, empty hallway. Gou quietly strode through the hallway, keeping alert if anyone was rounding the corner. _Oh, I'm so brilliant. I don't even know where they are at! _Gou mentally scolded herself. At the end of the hallway, she either had to take a right or left turn. She looked through each hallway, both just as empty as the first one. One thing did catch her eye down the left-hand hallway though. There was a door covered in yellow police tape at the end of the hallway. _If it wasn't so obvious, I think the twins are behind that door._ Gou silently jogged to the door and pushed it open. _If they really wanted something off limits, why couldn't they lock it? This is getting too easy. _She opened the door, closing it behind her, and right in front of her was the tank the twins were in. Ren and Ran were up against the tank window, smiling but it suddenly turned into confusion. Ran spoke out first. "We thought you were our onii-chan because you smell like him."

Gou literally slapped her forehead. _Good god, we had sex once and everyone freaks out! He used a condom for crying out loud!_ She cleared her throat, walking up to the tank. "Um, I'm Gou and I'm a really close friend to your older brother. I'm here to rescue you."

Ren's eyes sparkled. "Oh thank goodness!"

Ran scoffed. "Thanks for your effort but how are you going to do that when we are twice your size?"

If Gou slapped herself one more time, she'll give herself a concussion. "Why didn't I think of that before?!"

"Yes, why didn't you?" A voice from behind Gou was heard. Gou didn't have time to defend herself before something blunt hit the back of her head, causing Gou to crash to the ground. The force wasn't too hard for her to lose consciousness though. The twins were screaming for Gou to get up but it was ceased when Gou had air knocked out of her when a foot kicked her in the gut. She crawled in a fetal position, carefully looking up at her tormentor. She recognized Sousuke's father's face. The man that she once knew from her childhood, a man that was sweet and loved teaching the kids about marine animals, was no more in the face that was before her. His lip twitched upward, gazing down at Gou. "My, my, look how you've grown, Gou-chan." He grabbed the front of her collar and pulled her up, her feet dangling in the air. "No one is getting in my way." He sneered. Before Gou could spit in his face, he swung his free arm hard against Gou's face, making Gou pass out in his arms. He swung her over his shoulder and turned back towards the twins. "Your onii-chan should be here soon. Then my collection will be complete." Dr. Yamazaki laughed, carrying Gou away and out of the room.

* * *

**Was that suspenseful? Was that good? Let me know!**


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